# Tales of the Fanclub



## Kaito

I'M SORRY CHIMERA I HIJACKED IT. ;   ; IT NEEDED TO BE MADE.
You can steal it back if you want though. 

Members      
Kaito
Kratos Aurion
Arylett Dawnsborough
Dannichu
Cheetah
Walker
Animorph
Mhaladie
Cirrus
Valor
Falthor

Discussion gogogo


----------



## Kratos Aurion

hey you loser _I_ was going to hijack it D:

Um so I'm afraid I dunno what to talk about. But if enough of you guys want I could totally post some old stupid stuff I wrote!


----------



## Arylett Charnoa

;;Re-joins :D;;

Mmm, I haven't played ToS in a long, long, long, long time, I'm afraid to say. I should start playing it again though, 'tis awesome. I actually got up to that one temple with Volt, right before Sheena makes the pact on my second playthrough. Gah, why does Colette have to get herself kidnapped every five minutes, dammit! I was getting quite good at playing as her and she gets herself stolen. That's what I get for playing as a character that I don't even like. XD

Another note, I need to get a Wii so I can get the new ToS sequel that's coming out. It looks awesome.

All right, so random question! Uh... Favourite summon spirit, anyone? Mine's Aska. Ah, there's just something about big glowy two-headed rainbow birds that I like.


----------



## Kaito

TESTING NEW SIGNATURE? IS A GO.

I haven't played ToS in a while now either; I'm totally hyped for Dawn of a New World though. :D That is, if the release date doesn't get moved like some other games coughBrawlcough, but it shouldn't. I hope.
I always forget to get that skit before you enter the Temple of Lightning - I always rush ahead to get to Volt. >:( Although I am not a fan of his temple. 

Coolest Summon Spirit? I liked Shadow. He didn't talk but I _loved_ his temple. And his fight. Definitely one of the harder ones, totally worth it though. 
Also his summon is just win.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Tie between Celsius and Corrine/Verius, not so much because of anything they actually did in the game but more from some of my own stupid. They are both made of awesome even without my stupid, though.

Actually, if I'm taking my stupid into account anyway then my favorite spirits are some I shan't mention here, but yeah Celsius and Verius.


----------



## Dannichu

I've played: Tales of Symphonia (like, 8 times), Tales of... un, whatever the one rerleased for GBA was called, but as you can [robably tell, I haven't played that one in a while, and about 10 minutes of the PSP one (Legendia, I think). 

Favourite Character: Raiiiiine. And Genis, Presea, Sheena and Zelos. And everyone, really. 

Favourite summon spirit: Gnome~ I find it altogether too hilarious that he's voiced by the same guy who does Yggdrasil. Celcius looks the coolest (oh dear, unintentional bad pun there), though. 

Also; join. Thanks for remaking this one :3


----------



## nastypass

Not re-join but a regular join!  :D

Got Legendia about a month ago while looking for ToS, lovelovelove~ 
Especially Chloe and Norma.  :3  Can't get the slash between those two out of my heeeaaad.


----------



## Dannichu

dfhdgv it was Eternia on the PSP. 

Unfortunately, Legendia is a PS2-only game that, like Abyss, they never deemed to bring out in Europe. I might just cry myself to sleep. Few things make me sadder than having to miss out on games with slashy subtext~


----------



## Cheetah

I can't remember if I joined the last one. X3; Ah well. {Joins}

My favourite game is Abyss. <3 Symphonia was good, too.

My favourite characters are Jade, Genis, Peony, and Dist the Rose Ridiculous Runny Reaper. As for summon spirits, I'd have to say I like Corrine best. So cute... <3


----------



## Dannichu

This... is a slightly embarassing request, but does anyone have my old Raine Blinkie saved? Because I've looked everywhere on the computer and can't find iiiiit. I've got, like 150+ Raine icons, but not the one I want ;;


----------



## Mhaladie

Dannichu said:


> Favourite summon spirit: Gnome~ I find it altogether too hilarious that he's voiced by the same guy who does Yggdrasil.


WAIT ARE YOU SERIOUS. Ahahahaha~ I didn't pick up on that but man that's awesome.

Favorite summon spirit is probably Corrine. I liked Celsius too, though.

You know, I don't think I ever joined this on the old forum... I played through ToS a couple of months ago and loved it, and I think I always thought about posting here but I... never did because I guess I'm just lazy.

Favorite character is Mithos, I think, because he just has so much story and parallels with so many other characters and there is so much you can do with his character and gah, I just love him. I love evil characters that have story behind them and he was one of the best, at least to me. :3


----------



## Dannichu

Yup; James Arnold-Taylor - who also does Tidus in FFX. Presea and Corinne also both have Tara Strong voicing them, who is also Rikku in FFX. you can just imagine all these VAs having little runion parties when they all get together to voice in the same game. Cam Clarke (Kratos) and Jennifer Hale (Sheena) voice lead characters in ToS, Grandia II and Metal Gear Solid. 

And don't get me started on how much Cam Clarke and Crispin Freeman (Regal) have done togehter. It's _nuts._


----------



## Mhaladie

I feel like Cam Clarke also voiced Simba or some character like that but I might be wrong. 

Yeah I don't know how I'm talking about The Lion King now either, so, back on topic:
I actually cannot think of anything to say about Tales of Symphonia other than that I really should replay it. And try to check out some of the other Tales games, except I don't really have any of the systems they're on, so... Ah well.


----------



## Dannichu

Yup; he voiced adult Simba in the Kingdom Hearts games, and Simba's singing voice in LK2. 

Yeah, you should replay it and do the side missions. Because there are loads of them and they're _brilliant_. 

"Colette earned the title "Ironing Board"!" XD


----------



## Lupine Volt

*Joineth*

I'm just going to lay out everything on the table. I own only Tales of Symphonia, my favorite characters are Lloyd, Colette, the Sages, Sheena and Zelos. And my favorite summon is Verius/Corrine, who I desperatly wish to be usable in the sequal. And now for a somewhat random note.

Recently, playing through Fire Emblem For the gameboy, I've found a man who looks exactly like Colette! Lucius the monk. They're basically the same, with different outfits. *Look up a picture of Lucius for Fire Emblem, and you will find this to be true* ...Serving female saints, long blond hair, holy light magic, accompanied by red haired mercenaries with hard eyes...It's creepy, really.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Colette is far more manly than Lucius could ever hope to be.


----------



## Kaito

Danni: Ta da! After a little search on photobucket, I found it. :3

Wait, Jennifer Hale does Sheena? Man, she voices in a lot of games. I know her from the Metroid Prime series - she voices Samus. I think I've heard her name in a number of other games too. She must be a popular in-game voice actress. Off topic, I really need to get myself a copy of ToA, it looks amazing. Even better than Symphonia in some respects. And I'm still waiting for ToS2 to come out~ I think it's got a North American release of Winter 2008, but I'm not entirely sure. I'll look it up again and see.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Wow I totally didn't notice that post, Danni. D: I have all of them saved on this computer. Oops. Oh, well, you have it now.

Still can't play Abyss until I can rescue _my_ PS2 from my brother's room D:


----------



## Dannichu

Thanks; you're _awesome_ :D

...I don't feel naked anymore.

Jennifer Hale does Samus? That's awesome. She has a really nice-to-listen-to voice.


----------



## Minish

*joins!* :D

I still haven't finished the game... xD I started again so that I could play as Raine. Favourite characters are Colette, Raine and Presea~ And Lloyd is absolutely awesome and adorkable. <3


----------



## Chimera

Yeah! You can keep it, Kaito, it's fine~
Re-joining, obviously~

Just for reference:
I've played Phantasia, Symphonia, Legendia, Abyss, Tempest, and Innocence, and I own Rebirth but I haven't got my hands on a Swap Magic to actually play it yet. D:

My favorites characters are Yuan, Mithos, Walter, Jay, Asch, Jade, Dist, Spada, and Ruca~

Favorite Summon Spirit? Corrine~ He's just so cute and fun to draw and his voice manages to be high-pitched without being annoying~

And I am so psyched for Dawn of the New World/Knights of Ratatosk (whatever you want to call it) and Vesperia~


----------



## Valor

There are waaaaay too many sword wielders in Vesperia, it seems.

Of the games I have played so far: Phantasia (SNES and PSX translated), Destiny PSX, Eternia, Symphonia, Legendia, Abyss, and Radiant Mythology. I really would like to see Rebirth translated to the PSP. I may end up porting Eternia to the States as well since Namco has to suck like that. Reid is perhaps the greatest hero ever.

I don't have a favorite summon, as I am usually too busy racking up combos. Although the Eternia summons are just beautiful.

Character wise, Reid, Farah, Mary, Garr, Presea, Zelos, Guy, Jade, Senel, and Klarth are probably my favorites. Least favorite? Rutee, Mormo, and Kanonno. What a pathetic case of Mary Sue.

I suppose I should sign up for this club, then. After all, it is my all time favorite series.


----------



## Lupine Volt

Alright...this is sinking to the bottom of the page, so I suppose I should valiently jump in with a new topic. 

...What does everyone think of the new characters in Dawn of the new World? (All 3 of them...)


----------



## Chimera

GUUUUUYYS!

I JUST HEARD SOMETHING THAT RATHER WORRIES ME.



Spoiler: Symphonia sequel, although I'm not sure if it's true or not



Apparently, in Symphonia 2, RaineXRegal is _canon._



... I'm not really sure what to think. D: I mean, it *does* pair my favorite playables together buuut... (At least it's better than RaineXKratos, right?)

@Valor, about Vesperia: Aww, there's only three. And one is only optionally a sword-wielder. I think you can make her a mage if you want to~ Though I will be making her a swordperson, it's not often you see the heroine with a sword~ (Chloe didn't count. D:)

@Animorph: ... All three of them? What about Decus? Alice? Tenebrae?
I like them so far, though. :D Richter looks like a Zelos/Dist lovechild!


----------



## Dannichu

WHATWHATWHAT? 

That's so wrong on so many levels. O.o

I think my brain's melting. I'll be back when I can construct coherent sentances again.


----------



## Lupine Volt

I mean't all 3 playables. 

Oh, and yes...it is a horrible thing...in the spoiler tag...Here's hoping it's one of the things they evetually cut out of the english translation, along with a couple of costumes and afew more charming scenes.


----------



## Chimera

Afraid there's no hope for that, they aren't cutting anything out of the translation. D: They promised they wouldn't. Which does mean we get just as much voice acting (and voiced skits!) as the Japanese version~!


----------



## Lupine Volt

...Well, that's ironic from my standpoint...As long as they write it well...and they don't do anything else so...ridiculous. 

However, yay! Voiced Skits!


----------



## Chimera

It should be fine. The Tales games usually have decent translations, and I don't think they've ever added anything _in..._

... I doubt that's the end of the ridiculous, though. D:


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Yay, no cut costumes! BRING BACK RAINE IN A BUNNY SUIT

SHE CAN WEAR IT FOR REGAL

AND THEN GIVE HER A GUN LIKE MIKURU AND HAVE HER FIRE IT IN A CROWDED DEPARTMENT STORE YES

Deliberately not paying attention to anything about ToS2. I don't mind stalking news sites for info about Pokémon games because there's honestly no plot or anything to spoil in the first place, but this... no. Just being cautious. Seriously that does suck though don't let it be true. I can honestly say I find all of those characters more interesting when the relationships are all kept platonic (except Zelos but Zelos hits on anything that looks like it could almost possibly perhaps maybe conceivably have boobs so). They're like one huge dysfunctional family and FAMILIES DON'T DO THAT. D: EXCEPT ZELOS.

In other news, woozles and Kentucky Fried Chicken.


----------



## Zhorken

Chimera said:


> I don't think they've ever added anything _in..._


Like half the mystic artes in Abyss were US-version only.


----------



## Chimera

Zhorken the Ocelot said:


> Like half the mystic artes in Abyss were US-version only.


... Oh, yeah. 8D; I forgot about those.

@Kratos: I'm trying not to spoil myself either but that one little bit made me _too_ curious...
Loving Blaziken!Zelos, by the way~


----------



## Lupine Volt

I satisfy myself with watching random battles, and with the volume turned off. It calms me...

 And on that note, Colette's chakrams go much farther in this game.


----------



## nastypass

Hey guys can we talk about Legendia so I understand at least half of what you're talking about?  D:


----------



## Chimera

Legendia was awesome. Some of the best music I have ever heard in a game ever, plus you get to PUNCH THE SEA IN THE FACE. Have you ever played another game like that~?

Walker, can I ask who your favorite character is? :D; Mine was Walter, 



Spoiler



but then he died on me. ;_; Why does that _always_ happen?


 Senel, Jay, Moses, and Norma are all tied for second place, though~


----------



## nastypass

I really like Grune (Cogitate, cogitate, cogitate...  x3) and Jay, although uh, Norma and Chloe are close behind due to the  between those two I have jammed in my brain.  :D

Also Moses is the second gayest game character I have ever seen.  Ever.  :D


----------



## Chimera

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about Grune. X3; She's amazing~

Only the _second_ gayest? XD Who's the first?

... Legendia makes me _so_ happy when I'm playing it. :D Is it the same for you?


----------



## nastypass

Chimera said:


> Only the _second_ gayest? XD Who's the first?


This guy.  *shudders*

Also yes, Legendia is awesome.  :D  The fight with Maurits is really annoying though.  D:


----------



## Chimera

... Oh yeah, him. XD

Yeah, I hated that fight ;_; 



Spoiler



And he didn't even die in the end! _And then Wally still died!_ Maurits should have kicked the bucket and then Walter should have gone on to become the next Ferines leader or something if you ask me. D:


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Was bored, found a facemaker flash on dA, played with it.

Of course the facemaker was just a test and had its limitations, the most annoying of which was the fact that the color sliders didn't seem to work properly; I had to go into Photoshop and clean up a few colors (rather crappily but shh). Also I had to improvise with the hair for a lot of them... gah, all of them but Zelos and Colette look retarded to a degree. D: BUT OH WELL THE FACEMAKER THING IS KIND OF ADDICTIVE







































if you feel like playing with it yourself... eh, I dunno, maybe make a picture of this Moses guy that doesn't scare the living daylights out of me D: srsly I'm afraid of him I think that's why I don't bother picking up Legendia


----------



## Dannichu

Woah, those are awesome! I think Presea, Kratos and Zelos came out best. But they're all really great. That looks like fun~


----------



## Chimera

RESURRECTION!

Let's stop being almost at the bottom of the page, kay.

Chosendansen?


----------



## Falthor

I would like membership, please.  

Uh, yeah, I'm coming here for help.  xD

I'm stuck in the Mine, and I cannot outrun that boulder.  Before you say, "Use Lloyd's EX Skill," I have, but I still can't outrun it.  I've lost over 10,000 HP to that rock.  I've done it endlessly, and gotten nowhere.  I personally think my game has come to an end because of that goddamn rock.


----------



## Lupine Volt

Well, if you go around the corner, you'll notice a switch on the wall, which you can press to turn it off. For the Bakura, though, you have to lure it after you, and up as far as it can go in the boulder's path.  Then, activate the trap and duck into that little outlying safe area from the boulder. 

...So, anyone seen anything from E3 about the game?


----------



## Falthor

No shit.  What do you think I've been doing?  Going the opposite way?  I'm not fast enough to outrun it to that area.

I keep running there, and I see a cutscene of Lloyd falling with a nice 256 above him.  Again.  And again.  And again.  And again.  I lost tons of HP being crushed, and there seems like there is no end in sight.  Lloyd runs so slowly up and down, even with the EX Skill activated!


----------



## Kaito

I UPDATED THE LIST. :D

Falthor: You are running to the little outcrop to the left aren't you? Run along the left edge, because you can't fall off, and you'll slip into the outcrop a bit easier. For the Bakura, lure it as far as you can until it actually turns back. Then get it back to where it was. Run up, hit the switch, and duck into the outcrop. I'm really not sure why that doesn't work; I didn't have the EX Skill on. Or, what you could do, is have Genis as your avatar. He runs faster than Lloyd, so does Presea. Hope that helped you out~


----------



## Furretsu

*joins*

Love ToS, love ToP, like TotA, like TotW:RM, and find ToL okay. :P And of course I will be getting Tales of Vesperia!


----------



## Dannichu

Kaito said:


> Or, what you could do, is have Genis as your avatar. He runs faster than Lloyd, so does Presea. Hope that helped you out~


Oh, the number of times I've had to make Genis or Presea my avatar because I get completely stuck between two NPCs/an NPC and the environment so that the bigger characters can't move X3

Hello AK~ *wave*


----------



## Furretsu

Hiya. =P Anyone else going to try and get Tales of Vesperia? I downloaded the demo today and it was a lot fun - voice acting and graphics seem nice and polished and the battle was fun, albeit really really difficult. x_x (I had to play the demo three times before beating it.)


----------



## Cheetah

I wish I could. =/ We don't have any next-gen consoles, so it could be a while before I can really get a grasp on ToV.

On the other hand, though, I've gotten ToP recently, so that should keep me busy when I'm at school~


----------



## Furretsu

ToP is fantastic! Just try not to get frustrated by the _extremely_ high encounter rates like I did. XP


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Would try it (Vesperia) if, you know, I actually owned an Xbox. Might get it if my brother actually succeeds in getting a 360 of his own, though. Doubt he will, but we'll see.


----------



## Cheetah

ToP's encounter rate doesn't bother me so much. It's more the fact that the monsters come out of nowhere liekwoah.

Which is why I usually have a few Holy Bottles. P=


----------



## Deretto

The boss in the Vesperia demo is difficult. @_@;;;


----------



## Arylett Charnoa

Vesperia is on Xbox 360, so I probably won't get it. I don't own one and I don't plan on buying one.


----------



## Falthor

I have returned to Sylvarant!  

Questions have arisen: If someone is a soul mate, that means you did the right thing with those conversation circles, right?  What are those percent things at save/load menus?  And what's this important scene that makes you be with the person you love?  I want to be with Sheena, but he and Colette are soul mates, as well as Lloyd and Sheena.  What do I do?  I want Lloyd and Sheena to be an item?  

Let's talk ToS shippings now.  xD


----------



## Falthor

Awesome.  I want Lloyd to be with Sheena, so badly, and it looks like it's extremely possible.  Colette's so fucking annoying.  I hate her character.  It's so unoriginal and stupid.  Sheena is amazing and a great character, truly evolving just as much as Lloyd is.  But stupid Colette is attached to him.  ><

Anyone know of the Tech Glitch?


----------



## Alxprit

I don't know if I should be here. I've only played one game, Phantasia, and I did like it (based a comic series off some of it), but everyone seems to be rubbing it in that I can't get Tales of Symphonia. It's so hard to come by games for me, since I don't have the time or money usually. But... I'm here now.


----------



## Falthor

I double-posted?  I could have sworn....

Anyway, Alxprit, this club is about any game in the _Tales_ series, so you're welcome here.  I only played Symphonia and plan to play the others once I beat this game.  I logged in already sixty hours and I'm not even on the second disc yet.


----------



## Furretsu

Falthor said:


> I have returned to Sylvarant!
> 
> Questions have arisen: If someone is a soul mate, that means you did the right thing with those conversation circles, right?  What are those percent things at save/load menus?  And what's this important scene that makes you be with the person you love?  I want to be with Sheena, but he and Colette are soul mates, as well as Lloyd and Sheena.  What do I do?  I want Lloyd and Sheena to be an item?
> 
> Let's talk ToS shippings now.  xD


Among other things, yes - there are lots of things that affect affection. (xD)

The percentages are how much you've used that character - if Lloyd has 100%, that means you've used him in every battle so far.

The important scene is very late in disc two - you'll be in Flanoir, staying overnight, and you'll go out for a walk with your soul mate.

It doesn't matter if Colette has the highest affection at all - the important scene above allows you to pick from the three characters with the highest affection for Lloyd. Chances are, if you've been making some smart choices, Sheena will easily be one of those three - she starts out with a high affection anyway.


----------



## Falthor

Awesome. :3 - I loff Sheena.  I hate Colette; her character is _so_ stupid, plain, and boring.  

I talked to the fortuneteller in Triet, by the way.  Here are my standings:

Genis - Soul Mate
Colette - Soul Mate
Raine - Highly liked/respected (I forgot the word she used)
Zelos - No trust at all
Kratos - Highly respected
Regal - Soul Mate
Sheena - Soul Mate
Presea - Soul Mate

Oh boy.  ><


----------



## Furretsu

Genis and Colette are almost always gonna be there unless you answer questions with Raine's/Kratos' preferred choices in the first part of the game. But yeah, it'll be hard to tell... just keep doing stuff to get Sheena to like you.


----------



## Falthor

I did the "I Dunno" thing to the fortuneteller.  She said, "Someone really likes you!  She really cares about you...and she is like a flower."  Blah, blah, something about blooming or whatever.  Is that Sheena or Colette?


----------



## Valor

Getting Zelos to even stay the night is very difficult. I ended up using a guide to pick all the choices that would get Zelos's trust as well as doing all the side quests (Kidnapped Princess, Lost Boy) and I believe he was the third one to show up (I ended up reloading my save file after watching the scenes with Raine and Presea since I haven't seen their talks with Lloyd before).

It's about time I did a Tech Side switch with the characters. Lloyd is going to be T for once, Genis will be S, Raine S, Regal T, Sheena T, Kratos/Zelos T, Presea T, Collete I believe S. More of Reid's artes for Lloyd, at least.


----------



## Furretsu

Yeah, the only way to *easily* get Zelos is to carry over affection in multiple playthroughs.


----------



## Falthor

Colette's normally an S-Type, and Kratos and Zelos lean toward T.  So Colette should be T, and Kratos/Zelos should be S.  Sheena normally leans towards T, so she must be S.  

So...

Regal, Presea, Lloyd, and Colette should be T's; Kratos/Zelos, Sheena, Raine, and Genis should be S's if you want to do an inverse.


----------



## Dannichu

I've carried affection over lots of playthroughs and my top three are Raine, Presea and Zelos. Colette hates me X3 Well, not hate, but she doesn't like me as much as the others (according to Fortune-Lady, everyone's my soulmate XD). It's funny that you can't get negative affection on the on-field skits (as far as I know), even when you give a response that should really hurt their feelings. Is it wrong how much I enjoy making Lloyd be mean to Colette?

Fun story: You know that boss battle with 



Spoiler



in the Torent Forest? Before taking him on I got the Devils Arms and beat 



Spoiler



and such so they were ungodly powerful and managed to beat him in six seconds. My grade was _huge._

And in my game, everyone but Raine and Genis are S-type. I carry over the number of times a tech has been used, too, and most people have used most attacks 999 times now X3


----------



## Furretsu

Heh, with the default settings, I would ALWAYS have First Aid and Photon reach 999 on Raine without even trying. XD


----------



## Falthor

Yeah.  She's at 600 right now.  xD

I'm stuck in the Latheon Gorge.  Any tips?  I don't like using the walkthrough.  There's a flower that shoots air upward.  And what are the Amangos for?  They cause the plants to wilt.


----------



## Furretsu

Amangos are needed for when a flower interrupts your floating (usually when two flowers blow wind at the same time and cross paths). The flower that shoots upward can be utilized by having a flower blow you towards it.

Oh, god, this post sounds dirty.


----------



## Falthor

Well, you had to think that way.  (That's what she said.)

Got it.  

My team is kickass.  Lloyd, Sheena, Genis, Zelos (thinking of switching him with Presea or Regal.  Should I?), all Level 60+.


----------



## Dannichu

My team for boss battles will always have Genis and Raine. You _need _Raine for some battles, and while it's a pain to have two mages standing there charging for most of the game, Genis' attacks are powerful and the unison attack Prism Stars (Ray + any of Genis' Advanced spells - I like Cyclone) is the _best_. 
And then I'll normally have Presea because she's so damn strong and Sheena because she's so fast/can summon/has a ressurection spell for emergencies.


----------



## Falthor

I use Lloyd, Sheena, Genis, and Raine in my Boss Battles.  I didn't know that U. Attack.  So, now, time for ultimate destruction.

Lloyd: Sonic Thrust (not SUPER, just regular)
Sheena: Mirage Seal
Raine: Ray
Genis: Tidal Wave/Cyclone (both dish the same damage and number of hits)

Results: Loads of hits and damage, Mirage Thrust, and Prism Stars.  10,000+ Damage?


----------



## Dannichu

Prism Stars is the absolute _best_ for getting lods of hits. I think I had Genis, Raine, Colette and Lloyd and used, uh, Pow Hammer and maybe Tempest/Supersonic Thrust at the right time so one'd start as soon as the other finished to keep the combo going and then have Genis use Cyclone and as soon as that's finished, you initiate the Unison with Prism Stars and your Combo will be huuuuge, it's great :D

I prefer Cyclone over Tidal Wave, just because TW sometimes doesn't hit flying things. They're both good, though.


----------



## Furretsu

Prism Stars is good for small enemies, but if you're facing something large (most bosses or the Earth Temple dragon or someting) I'd have to say Stardust Rain is the way to go.


----------



## Falthor

I like Psi Tempest more.  xD

I've never used Prism Stars before, so yeah.

Highest combo: 59.  I heard there was a title for Lloyd who completed a 60-hit combo: Combo Expert, was it?


----------



## Cheetah

AuroraKing said:


> Heh, with the default settings, I would ALWAYS have First Aid and Photon reach 999 on Raine without even trying. XD


I've done the same thing, only it was Jade and Thunder Lance. P=


----------



## Furretsu

As much as I love Jade as a character, he was never on my battling team. I would always use Guy, Tear, Anise, and Natalia.


----------



## Falthor

From what game is Jade?


----------



## Dannichu

Tales of the Abyss. One of the many games I want to play really badly but can't ;;


----------



## Falthor

Looks pretty cool.  I recently got into the Tales series, but the thing is, I haz no monies to buyz themz.  xD


----------



## Chimera

You know, you guys outside of the US could probably play these games imported with a Swap Magic. =\ They're cheaper than a modded PS2 or buying a PS2 from a different region, atleast. *still needs one to play Rebirth. D:*


----------



## Falthor

I like English games.  Messing around with other technology is unknown territory, and me + unknown territory = death and destruction.  xD


----------



## Furretsu

Dannichu said:


> Tales of the Abyss. One of the many games I want to play really badly but can't ;;


It's really not all that amazing. Half of the game is spent staring at loading screens... and all of the sidequests (except maybe like two) have a very, very small timeframe that they can be completed else you miss them completely.


----------



## Falthor

Tales of Symphonia - best game ever.  Logged in 68 hours so far.  ><  Still stuck at Latheon Gorge.  In that same spot.  xD


----------



## Furretsu

I wouldn't call it the best game ever, but it is pretty awesome.


----------



## Falthor

Best Tales game, then.

Yeah, true, not the greatest game of all time.  I think God of War is one of the greatest.  But yeah.  There are many good games out there that it is really hard to decide which one is greatest.


----------



## Cheetah

Jade's always been on my team since my second playthrough. Mostly 'cause I started playing as him as an experiment, and now I have a heck of a time playing as anyone else, especially Luke. =/ I might try using Anise more, but she's not exactly maneuverable.

Still working on Phantasia~ Claus can summon Efreet now. ^^


----------



## Falthor

Efreet - like the Guardian of Fire, Efreet?  From Symphonia?  That Sheena can summon herself?


----------



## Cheetah

Yeah, except Claus doesn't have to go into overlimit to summon him. P=


----------



## Falthor

Haha, nice status, Cheetah.  And that's awesome.  But Sheena is just awesome.  Lloyd x Sheena for the flippin' win.

But I think mine is better, if you're into YouTube poops.


----------



## Cheetah

Falthor said:


> Haha, nice status, Cheetah.  And that's awesome.  But Sheena is just awesome.  Lloyd x Sheena for the flippin' win.


Claus has _the hat._

You can't argue with that hat.


----------



## Falthor

I guess I cannot, considering the awesomeness of that hat.

What version of ToP should I get?  The PSP version, with full voice acting and whatnot?


----------



## Furretsu

Fans generally agree that the SNES version is the best, but for practical purposes go with the PSP version.


----------



## Falthor

I have an SNES, but I doubt it's available.

Have you played the PSP version, AK?

Gragh, so many acronyms!


----------



## Cheetah

{Shrug} I have the GBA version. P= Full voice-acting would be nice, but then again, so would a PSP.

Either way, they're basically the same game. At least, I would hope so. o.o


----------



## Furretsu

I've rented the PSP version and it was pretty nice, especially compared to the crippled GBA version (which is playable, by the way, just not the most smoothly).


----------



## Cheetah

Yeah. P= I didn't imagine that a full-blown Tales game would fit well on a GBA cart. But hey, it works, and that's okay by me. P=


----------



## Falthor

Awesomez.  Timez to play Talez of Phantasia, then.  Well, once I getz monies.  xD

Why in hell am I talking like that?


----------



## Kratos Aurion

One day I'll actually finish ToP (GBA version because I'm lame like that... actually because I don't spend enough time whining about the differences between versions). And maybe one day I'll actually be able to complete a second playthrough of ToS. Or just about any game that isn't Pokémon or Golden Sun I/II.

...no seriously I can't replay anything that isn't Pokémon or Golden Sun no matter how awesome it is D: HALP

Uh but I do remember that I spam the hell out of Lloyd's Tempest moves on a regular basis. They're so... spinny and flippy and multi-hitty and fun! :D


----------



## Cheetah

I need help, guys. D:

Okay, so I'm trying to form a pact with Undine in Phantasia. I've gotten kinda stuck, so I checked out a FAQ. I followed the FAQ's advice to the dot.

But the stupid door inside the room to the north of the first switch won't open.

I even tried to hit them with the Sorcerer's Ring just to see if it'd blast them open or something, but it didn't.


----------



## Falthor

The move I abuse with Lloyd is Fierce Demon Fang.  It's just so badass.  That, and Psi Tempest.  It's so spinny, and mulit-hitty…

I also use Sheena from time to time.  She's pretty dexterous.


----------



## Chimera

I love spamming Rising Falcon with Lloyd. :D

And alternatively when I'm playing as Genis I spam Indignation~


----------



## Falthor

Oh, yeah, I recently got into Rising Falcon.  That's his strongest move for the S-Type, is it not?

I hate his combo attacks: they waste so much TP.  You could easily use the EX Skill that allows Lloyd to combine Special Attacks, use a Faerie Ring, reduce his consumption by half, and use all of those moves with 6 TP compared to six times that.


----------



## Aobaru

*Joineth*

Where's my Lloyd blinkie avatar? :00 ;_;


----------



## Lupine Volt

PURGATORY SEAL!* Slaps topic with a card*

...Yah, I've always sort of wanted one of those blinking avatars too.


----------



## Chimera

Eee we're alive again!

Right, blinking avatars. Here you are:







































THAT SHOULD BE EVERYONE except for Raine. Because Dannichu already has her.

... I forgot which ones I animated. XD; I know I did Regal, Lloyd, and Colette, but I don't remember who else...


----------



## Dannichu

Eeee, they're all so cute~ 

It'd be awesome if we got the ToS blinkies taking over TCoD again, but whoever takes Genis, prepared to be confused with me all the time X3
The great thing about these size avvies is they don't distort horribly when you post on someone's Visitor Messages Wall.

Hehe, from right to left, I see Aobaru, Tailsy, FMC, Chimera, Kratos (funny, that), Grimdour, Taylor_GS, Grimdour again and GF0. XD


----------



## Anything

Hi, I just kinda wanted to join. I've only played two tales games, and I feel like joining.


----------



## Dannichu

Hiya! :D

Which ones have you played?


----------



## Aobaru

Chimera said:


> Eee we're alive again!
> 
> Right, blinking avatars. Here you are:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> THAT SHOULD BE EVERYONE except for Raine. Because Dannichu already has her.
> 
> ... I forgot which ones I animated. XD; I know I did Regal, Lloyd, and Colette, but I don't remember who else...


My profile is now complete.


----------



## Eclipse

Uh, um...
I feel kind of embarrassed to join when I've only played one of the games.
;A;
Sorry for not joining earlier. D:
But I hope it is okay with you guys to join. x_o


----------



## Dannichu

(It's okay; I've only really played Symphonia. Don't tell anyone, though)

Which game is it that you've played?


----------



## Eclipse

Tales of Vesperia, mainly because I only have the 360. |D
I should really be getting the GBA and DS games...


----------



## Lupine Volt

OH yah, I've been playing through Vesperia. It's awesome. Even if the characters all fall under the usual stereotypes. Apoligetic female lead, smart girl mage, annoying little brat, sexual appeal girl, and comic relief. Oh, and the canine sidekick. 

Plus, watching certain scenes with Yuri and his pimping hats is awesome. *Black or white. Take your pick*...Pretty much everybody besides Karol is awesome.


----------



## Eclipse

Yeah, sometimes I just can't help myself but make lesbo Rita jokes. xD

Daugh, didn't get to that part yet. I'm busy trying to shut down the motherf****in' Heracules on this motherf****in' game! D:< -shot-

But I never expected the game to be this long. Just exactly how far am I away from the end? x.x


----------



## Lupine Volt

*Slaps topic with Purgatory Seal*

New topic: Voice actors. Who in the games does everyone love the voices of? Or hate? 

Oh, and on the topic of voice actors... Heather Hogan is still voicing Colette. So...whoo.


----------



## Keltena

I just got Tales of Symphonia for my birthday, and I kind of need some help. See, my copy didn't come with the instruction manual, so I don't know exactly how the battle controls work. Could someone explain?

Um. Voice actors. I'm like three minute into the game, but I like Lloyd's voice acting. Colette's annoys me to no end. Or maybe that's her personality I'm thinking of.

EDIT: just met Kratos. He is awesome. That is all.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Salamander said:


> I just got Tales of Symphonia for my birthday, and I kind of need some help. See, my copy didn't come with the instruction manual, so I don't know exactly how the battle controls work. Could someone explain?


Hm, well. Is there anything specific you're having trouble with? For the most part you really just learn it as you go along. Mashing A and occasionally using the special attacks with B will usually carry you through the beginning of the game until you've had time to experiment with all the options. Just spend a little extra time slaughtering weak, early-game enemies until you get the general gist of it. That's all I can tell you for now, given how rusty I am, unless you're confused by something specific. Hopefully that was... almost sort of marginally kind of helpful.



> Um. Voice actors. I'm like three minute into the game, but I like Lloyd's voice acting. Colette's annoys me to no end. Or maybe that's her personality I'm thinking of.


And once again I seem to be the only person on earth immune to how annoying Colette apparently is. Hm. I still think that the Face of +10 Wall-Breaking outweighs any negative points and gives her immeasurable value as a team member. Or maybe I'm just shallow.



> EDIT: just met Kratos. He is awesome. That is all.


:D

but uh voice actors um I don't really have a favorite. I guess I _thought_ about Lloyd's the most, but only because the first time I heard him speak I was all "omfg that's Robin!" and my brother didn't believe me and so by the time the credits were rolling I'd pressed my face against the TV trying to see if they had the same VA. Ugh stupid ToS made me watch Teen Titans after I'd decided I really didn't care. D:

ANYWAY SO GUYS ToS2 comes out next month and I need to focus on getting stuff out of the way so I can play through ToS again in time to be totally fresh for the sequel.


----------



## Eclipse

I'm getting ToS2 without ever playing ToS. Does that make me a bad fan? |D


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Not necessarily. Might confuse you a little here and there, though. Probably not too much, as a good sequel should be able to stand on its own fairly well but hint at the old game enough to make you go get it if you haven't.

You should play the original anyway. ;) The original is a Players' Choice game, btw, so you could probably find it nice and cheap anyway.


----------



## Keltena

Ah, never mind with the battle system. I wasn't quite expecting to get the tutorial as an inventory item twenty minutes into the game. :D Yaaaaay for... whatever that attack Lloyd does is called, where you hold down and press B. It's way too fun.

Also. Random blue-haired stalker dude. Hm. Whoever he is, I like his voice acting.


----------



## Dannichu

Re Voice acting, ToS has just about the best cast of all-star characters you'll ever find in a game. Except maybe MGS, but at least half the main cast have voice acted in MGS at some point anyway. The only people whose voices I dislike are Colette's and Chocolat's, and they're supposed to be annopying, whiny and preachy anyway, so you can't complain too much. 

Does ToS2 have a release date in Europe (if they're bringing it out here at all)? Not that it matters much; I only have my DS in terms of gaming consoles at the moment. I miss my Wii ;~;


----------



## Kratos Aurion

None that I can see. Sorry, Danni. :/

Aww, I liked the Japanese ToS2 cover art better. It had, like, everyone on it and not just Emil and Marta or whatever their names are.


----------



## Keltena

Aaaaah this is way too much fun someone make me stop~ 8D Colette has gone from most annoying character _ever_ ("I'll be curious if you're curious, Lloyd! ^_^") to most awesome comic relief character ever ("Maybe when I make friends with that girl I can ask her why she wanted to kill me!"). Also Kratos _totally_ has way more backstory than he's letting on (but then we knew that from the moment he appeared~), and Lloyd is really great at the whole idiot main character thing, and no one in my party really respects me except Colette who thinks I'm awesome and Genis who kind of likes me and Kratos thinks I'm just slightly not an idiot and Raine has even less respect for me and I know all this because I asked the fortune teller and oh god run-on sentence~ So yeah, very fun and all, and yay for all the super-complicated strategy and orders and stuff that keep me from losing horribly at boss fights~ And yeah I'd probably better shut up now bye~


----------



## Keltena

Sorry for the double post, but... I'm _really_ stuck. =/ See, I'm up to the fight against 



Spoiler: the second visit to Asgard Ranch



Kvar


, and I just _can't_ beat him. Part of the problem is, I chose Lloyd, Kratos and Genis for my party, which means that I have one virtually useless party member. I also have only one Life Bottle, and only about eight Apple Gels, and no backup save file. The problem is, there are four enemies and they all attack at once, which gives me hardly any chance to heal (and too many places where I have to). I've tried a million times with a million different strategies and I still can't beat it. And no backup save file, either.

Any suggestions?


----------



## Lupine Volt

Well, if you return to the main room of the ranch, the device at the bottom of the room is a refresher. You can buy items there. As for the boss, try and take out his three minions first. Set Kratos's AI settings for attacking a different one than you, and Genis will back you up with spells if you keep them away from them. And if all three minions are virging on you, then just jump over one. 

After their all dead, the boss is a pushover. He hits you with his weapon and occasionally goes for big hits, and if you see a blue circle underneath him, run for it. Cause that will hurt. 

Follow that pattern, and you should be fine.


----------



## Keltena

Ah, I'd forgotten the refresher. Thanks! I beat him, and now I'm past the Tower of Mana too. Wonder where to go from here...? ^^

Also, suddenly everyone in my party highly respects me. Even Sheena, who, like, just met me. xD And Colette is my soul mate... ew.


----------



## Lupine Volt

Oh, Sheena automatically loves you. But she's pretty easy to shake off. The affections are affected by choices you make in teh game, and the little glowing circles on the field map that produce skits that you choose the answer in. Answer the right one, and you get +1 relationship value with that specific character. 

Also, Colette is pretty hard to shake off. Lloyd could throw a brick at her head and she would just give him a trustful smile and a plate of home baked cookies.


----------



## Keltena

Animorph said:


> Oh, Sheena automatically loves you. But she's pretty easy to shake off. The affections are affected by choices you make in teh game, and the little glowing circles on the field map that produce skits that you choose the answer in. Answer the right one, and you get +1 relationship value with that specific character.


Ah, I was wondering. xD Yeah, I've discovered the circles (so addictive, please give me more? =D). I'm just surprised Raine likes me so much.



Animorph said:


> Also, Colette is pretty hard to shake off. Lloyd could throw a brick at her head and she would just give him a trustful smile and a plate of home baked cookies.


Gah, I know. So far I've ignored her when she's unhappy, called her a weirdo when she's happy, and brushed off everything she says to me. And yet... soul mates. Yup.

(Hm, throw a brick at her head...? I think I've heard someone else say that before somewhere. xD)

Also... where are you, random blue-haired stalker guy? Because I don't know why, but you're like my favorite antagonist for some reason, and I kind of want to see you again. Pleeeease?


----------



## Lupine Volt

Well, she's not so bad. She's much less annoying when the plot stops revolving mainly around her...as for skit points...I'm sure that their's a guide on the internet somewhere...maybe gamefaqs.com. 

As for Raine, she automatically semi respects you. The more you act...un Lloydish, making decisions that sort of go against childhood instincts, she and Kratos start digging you. 

Oh, and Mr. Blue haired stalker shall appear again...*Shifty eyes, sinks into the shadows...trips down a flight of stairs*


----------



## Keltena

Oh, I'm sure. Actually, I kind of like and kind of dislike her. She _is_ a wonderful comic relief character at times, it's just her tendency to, you know, not really have a personality that gets to me at times.

Really? She thought I was completely hopeless the first time I asked the fortune teller; I mean, ever Kratos liked me more. xD But, yeah, I've been purposely trying to make Kratos like me this whole time (which ended up getting me into one bossfight that was ridiculously overlevelled for me, but ah well~).

Yaaaay. :D I dunno, I always love those antagonists who develop personal obsessions with the hero. They're sort of more wild cards than the other villains. This guy seems like that.

Hm... just realized that I still have yet to meet the red-haired girl on the cover. Well, there is more than a whole disc to go~ I love long games.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Salamander said:


> Hm... just realized that I still have yet to meet the red-haired girl on the cover. Well, there is more than a whole disc to go~ I love long games.


...and Valor didn't believe me when I said _everyone_ makes that mistake. :D


----------



## Arylett Charnoa

Yes. Everyone DOES make that mistake. ;;Mutters something about Arylett making that very same mistake;;

I'm sorry... it's just... too easy a mistake to make.

Also Salamander, I share the same feelings about Colette as you do. It's a like-dislike thing. (;;Imagines Colette getting a brick thrown at her head;; XD Oh my God, she probably WOULD bake Lloyd cookies. Lloyd: ;;Throws brick at Colette's head;; Colette: Owwie! Hee hee, oh Lloyd, I think you gave me a concussion~ <3 ;;Bakes him cookies;;)


----------



## Dannichu

It sucks that there's pretty much nothing you can do that will make Colette dislike you. Even if you reject her (or anyone else) on the on-field skits, even though most of the time their reaction is to look absolutely broken hearted, it doesn't make their affection towards you go down at all. 

I always try and make Sheena and Raine like me, but it's very hard because choices that make Raine like you (like abandoning Sheena whereever possible) make Sheena hate you. So I tend to go with the Raine-liking-me options in dialogue (because that normally makes Colette dislike me, too) and then pick Sheena to do things like make curry or fly with me on the dragons and so on to even it out. 

Oh, how joyful I was when doing the puzzle in what might be Welgaia (when you free the prisoners to make the stupid lift go up) when Raine was up on the platform with me and Colette was standing there to be used as bait XD

And everyone's my soulmate according to the fortune-teller X3


----------



## Keltena

ohmygod. _ohmygod. OH MY FREAKING GOD._

sakdfljsdakfsajfkldsajflkdsafdsalkf@!!!!?>!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?????!?!?!!!!!!!!!$*%#@&*$

This is... oh god... what in the...

AAAAAAAAAAAH! Someone help me, I'm dead! Seriously, seriously dead! Aaaaaaah!

*takes a deep breath* *promptly chokes on said breath* *takes several more deep breaths*

O. Kay. Let's... talk about this rationally.



Spoiler: Tower of Salvation



Okay, keeping up with the deep breaths... Yeah, it was clear that Remiel was no good, and even clearer that Colette would have to die to regenerate the world. Yeah, I got all that. But...

I should have known that boss fight was too easy to be true. I really, really should have known that. I should have seen something coming.

Just... oh. my. god. I am so dead on this fight, it's not even funny. Someone, anyone, save me! Please! Dx



*panicpanicpanic*


----------



## Lupine Volt

Don't worry...the plot continues whether or not you win this next fight...and the one after that. Just scan them with magic lenses and wait. Everything should be fine. 

Calm thoughts, Salamander...kittens, rainbows, Noishe...kittens, rainbows, Noishe.


----------



## Keltena

I figured that a few minutes into the fight. It was the plot twist that really broke my brain, though... Gaaaaah, do you realize what this means? 



Spoiler



I just lost two of my best characters! Now I have to use freakin' _Genis!_



Um, okay, gameplay issues aside... it all makes sense now. The blue-haired guy, and his attempt to kill Kratos... man, Lloyd, good going.

I think after all this plot, I'm going to need several minutes of sitting back and staring at a wall.


----------



## Lupine Volt

Genis is alright. I use him a lot, and he usually is really helpful...Plus, he's one of the only three characters out of the playable 9 who can use a super-awesome-special-secret-meet-several-conditions-and-then-make-stuff-go-boom technique.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

...What's wrong with Genis? He's incredibly useful as long as his commands work to his strengths. He's a mage, he's frail and you have to protect him, just like any other mage in any other fantasy RPG game, but reaping the rewards is well worth being patient and taking a little extra care.

Trust me. By the time you reach the point in the game where the phrase "Meteor Storm" carries some actual meaning for you, you will have changed your mind. Also Genis and Raine have some pretty killer unison attacks.


----------



## Keltena

My problem with him is that I've never been able to keep him alive in a boss fight. He literally dies constantly -- his spells are wonderful and all, but I never get a chance to use them.

Hm. I'll keep what you've said in mind, though.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Considering I haven't played in a while and _still_ haven't gotten around to that replay I need to do before the sequel I don't remember _exactly_, but I'm pretty sure there are ways you can tweak the characters' orders and stuff to minimize constant Genisdeath. There must be, because I really don't remember him dying more often than anyone else.


----------



## Dannichu

Mm. Go onto the EX Skills menu and try and get some stuff to beef up his defence a bit if he keeps dying. And give him your best defensive equipment. And if your Genis is using Stupid Moves, set his techs to your character's C-stick and you can control him without having to select stuff from the menu mid-battle. 

I do that with Raine all the time because my CPU Raine is silly and keeps standing there doing not much unless everyone is actually dying :/

Prism Staaaaars <3 That move alone is the reason why Genis is always in my Final Team (which is typically Raine, Genis, Sheena and Presea).


----------



## Keltena

'Kay, I'll check it out. What I really wish is that there was an option in strategy that just said "run like hell from enemies".

...um.

So.

The red-haired girl on the cover is actually, uh... a guy? (So _that's_ what everyone thought was so funny. >>;;) Well, you can tell from looking at him in-game, just not in the intro and the cover art. I have no clue who he is right now, but he seriously cracks me up. :D


----------



## Lupine Volt

Ah...yah, most of us had that WTF moment. Good times...he'll be a pretty big comic relief character. Yay, comic relief!


----------



## voltianqueen

Hello, I will be joining you people! :D

Man, I thought he was a girl, too. Till I heard his voice. I cracked up and then became a fangirl.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

He's a lot more than comic relief, of course. Pretty deep guy once you get to know him. Which doesn't quite happen until, like, the second disk, but still.

...ignore the fact that that's primarily why I like him anyway. ;)


----------



## voltianqueen

I'm still trying to get him in my top 3 relationship-whatever people so I can see his little scene. It's been what, 4 years? ;_;


----------



## Keltena

Hm, well, this is shaping up to be quite interesting. And still on the first disk~

The new party members are just piling up. I think Zelos is going to take the place of Kratos from here on out; he's like an exact clone so far as I can tell. Not so sure about Presea, but with those stats she could definitely be useful. I might switch her in for Lloyd, except she doesn't have awesome skills like Psi Tempest. D:

Also... Colette is seriously starting to creep me out. o_O That vacant stare... *shudders*


----------



## voltianqueen

I love the part where Colette kicks that dog!

Presea's a beast once you get the hang of her. ...Which I haven't, but my sister has! xD


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Kratos and Zelos are effectively clones, yes. There is a slight statistical difference (I think Zelos is faster and Kratos is stronger, but not significantly so), their fighting styles are a little different, their titles are obviously different and Kratos can potentially get one move Zelos can't (well, _technically..._ uh, well, I'll let you find out for yourself), but other than the titles I really can't tell the difference between the two in battle.


----------



## Keltena

Ahahahahaha this is so much fun~~~ Free items, free items! :D Zelos is the best character _ever_ now! I get to rob the poor~

[/sugarless high]

EDIT: I CHANGED MY MIND. Presea is the best character ever.
Zelos: Half the females in this world are destined to be slaves of my love.
Presea: The probability of that is infinitely close to zero.
Zelos: =[

xD

EDITEDIT: Nonowait. Zelos is back to being the best character ever. Nicknames! 8D (I am _so_ referring to Lloyd as "Hey You" from now on.)

EDITEDITEDIT: (Man, am I ever going to stop editing this? Probably not.) That was certainly a turn for the unexpected. o.o I seriously never would have thought Yuan was with Cruxis. Just... what the heck is going on with everyone here?


----------



## Dannichu

It's ToS. _Everyone_ betrays, you, it's great. XD

Presea is amazing. She's always my most powerful character and I'm semi-decent at playing as her, once I get the timing and range of her attacks right. When she's got her Devil's Arm equipped (Disaster? Diablos? Something.) she can take out virtually everything in the Colisieum on Difficult in about one hit.



Spoiler: MASSIVE SPOILER FOR THE END OF THE GAME



When Lloyd's got his Devil's Arm equipped, he can take out Kratos in Torrent Woods or wherever it is in a single hit, too X3



Zelos' stuff-getting ability is so great. I love going to places where people don't like Zelos so they give you sucky things; talk to a woman in Ozette and she'll gush over Zelos and then give you a shrimp or something. XD


----------



## Keltena

I've been realizing that. xD (Actually, I'm still kind of hurt over Kratos's betrayal. But hey, he has potential for redemption. And by 'potential for redemption,' I of course mean unknown and possibly tragic backstory... and my own wishful thinking~)

Oooh, Coliseum. Should I try it? I haven't even approached it yet, is it good? =D (I'm currently on a series of trecks through that godawful forest, so it's not like I could just drop everything and go fight, but...) You know, the impulse to screw the fancy techniques and just switch Presea for Lloyd is getting very strong.

Heh, I'm in Mizuho right now. No one gives a damn about Zelos, period.


----------



## Lupine Volt

You can't even try the collesium yet. It's not open to you until...well, it's quite a ways off. 

Uh, that forest...I always hated that forest, even if it does lead to Mizuho. A village ful of ninjas! *Stupid Grin*

Oh, and by now, you've probably met...him...*Blue haired Emo guy*


----------



## Keltena

Oh, really? Huh... I always thought it would let me walk right in if I wanted to. So, what's stopping me?

Ugh. THAT FOREST. Don't even get me started. It's such a labyrinth, it's a wonder I managed to stop walking in circles at all. (Plus they put in this stupid path that just loops until you give up...)

Ah. Yes. (Handcuffs, huh? There'd better be a wonderful explanation behind this one...) Anyway, it's looking like the last party member, else the save screen won't be able to handle it.


----------



## Keltena

AAAAAAAH DOUBLEPOST...! (...yeah. Sorry. ;_;)

So, my brother and I were speculating... well, I'd say _he_ was speculating, actually, since I'm much farther in ToS than him. We had... a few interesting discussions.

Discussion #1:
Judging from Remiel's voice-acting ("My-be-lov-ed-dau-ghter..."), he is either evil or has had a lobotomy. If the second is true, then that means to become an angel Colette will have to... oh, wait.

Discussion #2:
After a long, convoluted conversation, my brother has come to the conclusion that Exspheres run on experience points, and human ranches therefore harvest XP. Therefore, from this point on, they shall be call "Exspherience Points". (Firefox thinks that's a word lol~) Oh, but he also thinks that Exspheres are powered by the souls of our slain enemies.

Out of context quote #1:


			
				my brother said:
			
		

> I would love to see Kratos doing the tango. That would be hilarious.


Make of those what you will, I just felt they were worth sharing.

(Oh, also. Presea/Colette FOR THE WIN. First ToS 'shipping for me~)


----------



## Dannichu

Lol @ lobotomised Remiel. 



Spoiler: Remiel, lolz



I never did trust that guy D<
It will forever bug me that at the Tower of Salvation he's all "I never said she was my daughter. You humans started calling me her father all on your own.", while back in the Tower of Mana Colette begins asking him if he's her father and he says "...my beloved daughter Colette." What's up with that?



I also fully support Kratos doing the tango. Raine and Presea moreso because in the crazy Rent/ToS crossover pic I did ages ago, Raine was Joanne and Presea was Mark (because I forgot that Regal exists XD). 

Presea/Colette is cuuuute. If slight weird for, uh, later plot points. The only other person I could stand Colette with would be Chocolat because then they could just go off together and never have to annoy anyone ever again and it'd be good [/Colette bashing]. 
...I still love Lloyd/Zelos XD


----------



## Lupine Volt

Eh. I stick with the cliched pairings. They're just so warm and fluffy...Meaning Lloyd/Colette, Presea/Genis, Sheena/Zelos...Also, I like to pretend Regal doesn't exist.


----------



## nastypass

pfft Chloe/Norma in ToL is still way better  >:(


----------



## Keltena

...you know what the scariest thing is, Danni? When I told my brother I was putting up the quote about Kratos doing the the tango, I _told_ him you'd bring up some sort of RENT crossover. xD

I hate Lloyd/Colette with a burning passion, and I'm not even sure why. My reasoning has always been that not even an idiot like him deserves to be stuck with Colette, but then I started pairing her up with the awesomesauce Presea, so uh, I'm not even sure anymore. Presea/Genis bugs me though, just because Genis is such an idiot about it (look at me, I have a silly crush). As for Sheena and Zelos... just the idea of that actually being canon cracks me up, so let's not go there. Presea/Colette gets weird? D= Too bad, it's so cute as it stands now.

I pretend Regal doesn't exist, too. =3

...Lloyd/Zelos, _seriously?_ You're not kidding? I'm going to have to keep an eye out for that, then. O_o Is it, like, actually there?


----------



## Kratos Aurion

I stick... a fork in pairings.

Speaking of forks and pairings, Wonder Chef's Fork/Penguinist. That is the only ToS romance that is allowed in my head _ever._ I should draw it some time. And then write fanfic.

...no guys I'm totally serious I think there should be fanfic.


----------



## voltianqueen

The fork and the Penguinist? LOL

My favorite is Sheena/Zelos, but Kratos/Zelos and Lloyd/Zelos are good, too! :D

I don't usually pretend Regal's not there... I forget. :(

As for Kratos doing the tango, that is the most wonderful thing that could ever happen in ToS.


----------



## Chimera

HEY GUYS.

Am I the only person who actually likes Regal? XD; I mean, sure, he looks like he goes clothes shopping in the kid's department, but the way he _talks_ is epic.

Shippings... I used to ship a whole bunch of pairing in ToS. Then I forgot them all. XD; Genis/Mithos is still pretty cute, though.


----------



## Retsu

Geez, this is more of a ToS club than a Tales club. Seriously, I love Symphonia, but I love all the other NA games too! (The only NA game I'm missing is Destiny, but I plan to get that soon... and I'm going to import Eternia eventually.)

Vesperia is really awesome - I'd suggest anyone who can get it does so. The villain development is pretty bad, but all other aspects are awesome. Going to 100% it eventually.


----------



## Lupine Volt

Well, Symphonia is the most Nintendo-compatible game, and this forum is full of people who love Pokemon. Therefore, Symphonia is sort of the default for Tales fans here. 

However, I agree that Vesperia is awesome...Although I really want to know more about the characters personal backstories...and villian development was pretty bad, I agree...but it's so satisfying to see what happens to the first three antagonists...


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Retsu said:


> Geez, this is more of a ToS club than a Tales club. Seriously, I love Symphonia, but I love all the other NA games too! (The only NA game I'm missing is Destiny, but I plan to get that soon... and I'm going to import Eternia eventually.)
> 
> Vesperia is really awesome - I'd suggest anyone who can get it does so. The villain development is pretty bad, but all other aspects are awesome. Going to 100% it eventually.


If you want to buy me a 360, I'd be more than happy to discuss Vesperia with you.

For the record I would like to point out that I *do* own Abyss, but extenuating circumstances continue to keep us apart and I have never played. Uh and Phantasia which is okay and all but I stopped like halfway through and haven't been in the mood to pick it up again. So yeah, honestly there isn't anything else I *can* talk about. :/


----------



## Retsu

Abyss is pretty good. I wouldn't place it above Symphonia, but it's decent. If you're going to play Phantasia, I'd strongly suggest the fan translation, as the GBA version is severely crippled.

Did you guys know Vesperia's release alone caused the 360 to actually sell better than the Wii that week in Japan? Amazing stuff. And Japan's not hugely into the 360, so it's a huge accomplishment for both N-B and Microsoft.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Considering I already paid for it and all, I figure I'd better get my money's worth out of the GBA one. (If I could actually bring myself to do anything involving the GBA at all at the moment.)

At any rate, would you mind elaborating on what you mean by "crippled"? I hear everyone say things like that (the original is better than the dub/rerelease/whatever), but other than the fact that they dumb down animé for the American kiddies I've never actually heard anyone mention any _specific_ differences. Why is the GBA one so much worse?


----------



## Keltena

Celsius is the most _evil_ boss _ever._ D< I had her down to like 1000 HP, too... DX


----------



## Retsu

Kratos Aurion said:


> Considering I already paid for it and all, I figure I'd better get my money's worth out of the GBA one. (If I could actually bring myself to do anything involving the GBA at all at the moment.)
> 
> At any rate, would you mind elaborating on what you mean by "crippled"? I hear everyone say things like that (the original is better than the dub/rerelease/whatever), but other than the fact that they dumb down animé for the American kiddies I've never actually heard anyone mention any _specific_ differences. Why is the GBA one so much worse?


Slow-as-hell battle system (SNES/PSX was _much_ faster), crappy translation (Cress? _Claus_?), graphics downgrades, story is generally dumbed down for the E-10 crowd, and they removed: Lilith, the S.D., Satsugeki Bukouken, Odin, Shadow's dungeon, Groovy Arche, the face chats (think skits), and the nice new map graphics. Among other things, I guess.


----------



## Dannichu

Salamander said:


> ...you know what the scariest thing is, Danni? When I told my brother I was putting up the quote about Kratos doing the the tango, I _told_ him you'd bring up some sort of RENT crossover. xD
> 
> I hate Lloyd/Colette with a burning passion, and I'm not even sure why. My reasoning has always been that not even an idiot like him deserves to be stuck with Colette, but then I started pairing her up with the awesomesauce Presea, so uh, I'm not even sure anymore. Presea/Genis bugs me though, just because Genis is such an idiot about it (look at me, I have a silly crush). As for Sheena and Zelos... just the idea of that actually being canon cracks me up, so let's not go there. Presea/Colette gets weird? D= Too bad, it's so cute as it stands now.
> 
> I pretend Regal doesn't exist, too. =3
> 
> ...Lloyd/Zelos, _seriously?_ You're not kidding? I'm going to have to keep an eye out for that, then. O_o Is it, like, actually there?


Lol @ the predictablity of me doing a crossover. No, I actually lol'd. X3

I dislike Colette/Lloyd because so many RPGs just pair up the main character and the whiny annoying female and it gets so, so boring. Add in the fact that Colette is exactly like 99% of whiny annoying female characters and Lloyd's... a lovable moron? Eh, it really doesn't work for me. 

Genis/Mithos is so canon, it's adorable. I love Genis' relationships, actually. At the start of the game he's all "ilu Lloyd <3", by mid-game he's "ilu Presea <3" and then "ilu Mithos <3" and then by the end he's back to fanboying over Lloyd and Presea in pretty much equal measures. He's so adorable X3

Lloyd/Zelos is nowhere near canon, really, but there are some really sweet scenes if you make Zelos really like you and choose all the Zelos-y paths in the game.



Kratos Aurion said:


> I stick... a fork in pairings.
> 
> Speaking of forks and pairings, Wonder Chef's Fork/Penguinist. That is the only ToS romance that is allowed in my head _ever._ I should draw it some time. And then write fanfic.
> 
> ...no guys I'm totally serious I think there should be fanfic.


I APPROVE. Penguinists are so cute they could go well with anything <3



voltianqueen said:


> The fork and the Penguinist? LOL
> 
> My favorite is Sheena/Zelos, but Kratos/Zelos and Lloyd/Zelos are good, too! :D
> 
> I don't usually pretend Regal's not there... I forget. :(
> 
> As for Kratos doing the tango, that is the most wonderful thing that could ever happen in ToS.


The only thing I have against Sheena/Zelos is that I think it'd end up being like their in-game skits, especialyl towards the end of the game, which all end with Zelos making a stupid comment and Sheena trying to kill him. I don't care how flirtatious that seems, it'd get really old very quickly. 



Chimera said:


> HEY GUYS.
> 
> Am I the only person who actually likes Regal? XD; I mean, sure, he looks like he goes clothes shopping in the kid's department, but the way he _talks_ is epic.
> 
> Shippings... I used to ship a whole bunch of pairing in ToS. Then I forgot them all. XD; Genis/Mithos is still pretty cute, though.


I like Regal, he's just.... kinda boring. I prefer him in the manga, actually; it makes him much more likable. But in the game he's really only there to feed Presea's backstory, I think. He doesn't really... do much, does he? I've had his Flanoir scene before and was really looking forward to it because he does have an awesome voice and they might've given him some kind of cool story like they did with Zelos, but all I can remember is "blah blah Lezereno Company blah blah guilt". :/



Spoiler: Regal's backstory



Plus I wish he'd just get over himself. Half the cast have killed people really close to them; Genis is only twelve and killed someone he saw as his grandmother, Sheena killed half her village, Lloyd's responsible for the deaths of countless people from his crazy descions and they don't _keep going on about it _like Regal does :/



I really, really want to play Vesperia, but I'm lacking in a 360 and my continent may be lacking in Vesperia in general, so yeah. D:


----------



## Lupine Volt

Dannichu said:


> Spoiler: Regal's backstory
> 
> 
> 
> Plus I wish he'd just get over himself. Half the cast have killed people really close to them; Genis is only twelve and killed someone he saw as his grandmother, Sheena killed half her village, Lloyd's responsible for the deaths of countless people from his crazy descions and they don't _keep going on about it _like Regal does :/
> 
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> I know! We get it, she's dead, you can get over it now! The twelve year old boy is coping better than you are! The air head who grew up knowing she would die at the age of sixteen is handling things better than you are! The man whose mother's dying words were"You never should have been born" is dealing with it better than you are! And don't even get me started on Kratos!
> 
> ...Isn't it odd that the younger members of the cast deal with grief better than the older members?...Look at Mithos, for crying out loud!
> 
> Also, Danni...that sucks. If it helps, the female party members have a lot of Les-yay moments.


----------



## Dannichu

Oh yeah, Kratos... I knew I was missing someone who killed someone close to them, but just couldn't think who XDD



> Also, Danni...that sucks. If it helps, the female party members have a lot of Les-yay moments.


;~;

I guess I can read fanfiction, but it's always hampered a bit by me not knowing who on earth the characters are. Not that that's ever stopped be before, but...


----------



## Keltena

So guys. It's 3:41 AM and I'm feeling very sleep-deprived and I know I'm not going to get _any_ sleep until I get this out, so here goes. You'll think I'm insane no matter what, so I'm just gonna spit it out...

We all know there's a Lloyd I Am Your Father moment coming, right? I wonder who it is?

...I think it's Kratos.

Wait. Please don't laugh me out of the room yet. Let me have my insane speculation. I'm going to put it all in spoiler tags because I'm too sleepy to think what should and shouldn't be spoilered.


At the very beginning of the game, when the original party is gathered at Lloyd's house, Kratos is standing by Anna's grave. (Easily explained away with the whole "oh, so your mother was killed") dialogue, but if you come at it from a different angle...



Spoiler



Kratos is always _very_ protective of Lloyd, constantly reminding him to work on his swordsmanship if he wants to stay alive (not to mention "Don't die, Lloyd."); this makes sense if you consider Anna's death.



There is a scene near the beginning of the game where it is heavily implied that Kratos has been wronged by Desians, and from the way it talks, you get the impression he wants vengeance and believes that Lloyd should as well. Which brings me to...
Kvar's death. Kratos is quite vengeful, wouldn't you say? Makes sense, considering he would blame Kvar for the death of the "inferior being" he was in love with.
In a skit soon after that, Lloyd and Kratos discuss Anna's death. Kratos briefly insists "your father killed your mother" before giving in to Lloyd's logic. Kratos is very much the type to blame himself, which brings me to...
In the Seal of Water, at the beginning, Kratos says that he once made a "terrible mistake," before adding to Lloyd that he shouldn't have said that and saying, "forgive me."
On the subject of skits, there's one where Kratos comments that Lloyd dislikes him. Lloyd can be made to disagree with him, but that's beside the point. The point is that, although it's always hard to tell with Kratos, he seems genuinely down that his son might dislike him.
When Remiel dies, Kratos stresses that he was once an "inferior human being" and seems to carry the same hatred for Cruxis that he does for the Desians; obviously, this makes sense considering that they are one and the same. Anyway, Kratos obviously has important human ties.
On an earlier note, Kratos does not seem to trust, or be trusted by, Cruxis, if Yuan's attempt to assassinate him is any sign. Not to mention the way he helps out Lloyd and his group while they're in Tethe'alla. He is therefore probably trying to use them to further his own goals. (Yeah, still think Kratos is going to rejoin the party...)
That's... all? Could've sworn I had more. Oh, well. You can laugh me out of the fanclub now, but my sleep-deprieved brain required me to get that out. I love my theory, anyway, even if it's insane. Somehow I honestly believe this, though.

*hides*

EDIT: Now that I'm awake and my brain is functioning, I have another reason: 



Spoiler: the sake of spoiler tags



Noishe. Early in the game, you see Kratos sneak out to see Noishe; when asked if he likes animals, he clearly says that he does not, making it clear that he is acquainted with Noishe in particular. Now, how would that have happened...


----------



## voltianqueen

Abyss is my favorite! <3

I really would like to play Vesperia... My dad's been dropping all sorts of hints about getting a 360. I think he wants one, too. :3


----------



## Keltena

God, I hate it when games just hint _endlessly_ at backstory and whatnot without ever revealing it, and _none of the characters catch on._ (I'm looking at you, Regal.)

Regal: Hey, I committed a crime in the past. Oh, and I have some connection to Presea even though she doesn't know me. And I'd rather not go into Altimara (which just happens to be where her sister's grave is). Oh, and I don't give you my last name for some reason.
Presea's sister: So guys, I was killed by this guy whose last name is Bryant.
Presea: Guys, my sister was killed by this guy whose last name is Bryant.
Regal: Hey, I think I might know something about that. *whistles innocently*

GAH.

Also, I'm agreeing on the Genis/Mithos. (I thought it wasn't possible for a guy to be girlier than Zelos... I was dead wrong.)


----------



## voltianqueen

I guess the ToS gang is really slow. >_>

Genis/Mithos is so cute. X3


----------



## Keltena

Heeeeelp! I'm stuck in the Shadow Temple. I know exactly what to do, I'm sure of it -- I'm up to the last shadow and I've figured out how to make the block make a bridge, but for some reason it just keeps... resetting? once I get over there? I really, really don't get what's going on. I've looked up a guide and everything, and it says I'm doing it all right. DX Heeeelp.

Solved it through a ridiculously roundabout route. Nevermind~


----------



## Dannichu

Argh, the Temple of Darkness >.< God, I hatehatehate that freaking dungeon. I also hate the Meltokio Sewers and the Ymir Forest. 

But the thing that had me puzzled for the longest time in my first playthrough is when you have to go to Zelos' Mansion. I missed the dialogue where is said it's in the upper-class bit of Meltoko, so I wandered around the world map for _hours._ Whenever I replay it and he says "It's an obnoxiously large building; you can't possibly miss it" I have to resist the urge to kill someone.


----------



## Valor

Retsu said:


> Slow-as-hell battle system (SNES/PSX was _much_ faster), crappy translation (Cress? _Claus_?), graphics downgrades, story is generally dumbed down for the E-10 crowd, and they removed: Lilith, the S.D., Satsugeki Bukouken, Odin, Shadow's dungeon, Groovy Arche, the face chats (think skits), and the nice new map graphics. Among other things, I guess.


Wait, Lilith? Isn't that Tales of Destiny? Groovy Arche is still in, I believe. I don't think the skits would have been able to make it on the GBA. And the SD faces were really ugly.

My only complaint about the translation was the change in Dhaos. Rather than being perhaps the most serious character ever in a Tales game, he's been made less evil. Any other complaint has to do with the GBA's pathetic capabilities. They used the SNES map walking and opening scene, yet used less-detailed PSX sprites.

Wonder what would have happened if they worked on the Full-Voice Edition on the PSP instead...


----------



## Keltena

Dannichu said:


> Argh, the Temple of Darkness >.< God, I hatehatehate that freaking dungeon. I also hate the Meltokio Sewers and the Ymir Forest.


Same. Well, I'm not up to Ymir Forest yet Ymir Forest is the most annoying thing EVER (seriously, FISH? What the heck?), but I _hated_ Gaorocchia (or however the heck it's spelled) with a burning passion. What a freakin' _maze._

...can't say the same about Zelos's mansion, though~

Up to disk #2 now, and dear god, game, could you be _any_ more obvious about Kratos and Lloyd? xD I swear. "His eyes soften whenever he looks at me"? I totally called that one~ Although honestly, I should have seen it coming way earlier.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Salamander said:


> Same. Well, I'm not up to Ymir Forest yet Ymir Forest is the most annoying thing EVER (seriously, FISH? What the heck?), but I _hated_ Gaorocchia (or however the heck it's spelled) with a burning passion. What a freakin' _maze._
> 
> ...can't say the same about Zelos's mansion, though~
> 
> Up to disk #2 now, and dear god, game, could you be _any_ more obvious about Kratos and Lloyd? xD I swear. "His eyes soften whenever he looks at me"? I totally called that one~ Although honestly, I should have seen it coming way earlier.


I like mazes, though. Most of the time, anyway. Gaoracchia never really bothered me that much, iirc.

...not necessarily! D: The first time I played I was like "hm... could it be him? Or, wait, nah... NOISHE yes omg I think so I think the Desians turned him into a cowardly dogasaurus SO THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED OMG I AM A FRICKIN GENIUS take THAT game!"

...actually I dropped that theory pretty quickly, but yeah.


----------



## Zhorken

Retsu said:


> The villain development is pretty bad


The hero development is also pretty bad.  Yuri has none.


----------



## Keltena

Oh. My. God. Second (?) visit to the Tower of Salvation in Tethe'alla, and, just...

_Wow._



Spoiler



That was the most amazing dungeon and following cutscenes and boss fights... well, actually, the boss fights were nothing special, pretty easy, but oh my god. I actually started crying when the last party member left me (Genis), and I didn't stop until Mithos attacked us.

I... am I a bad person because I might have thought it was even _more_ awesome than it already was if Zelos had actually betrayed the party? Yeah, probably. What he did was still utterly _awesome_, though. *hugs Zelos*

I don't know what made all that so amazing, but it _was_.

On an earlier note... I wasn't too thrilled with the way they revealed that Kratos was Lloyd's father. I'm not sure _exactly_ why... like, I can't really think of anything they should have done better except that I didn't like some of Lloyd's lines and the way he voice-acted them. But meh.



My parents are making me stop playing now, aaaaaaaah! *addicted*


----------



## Lupine Volt

Oh, yah...the Tower of Salvation take 2. The only time in the game I've felt sympathy for Regal...until he ripped of Gandolf. However, I was sad when everyone else started dropping out...although you would think that they would have saved Sheena for a later position.


----------



## Keltena

So I got up to the part in the game where Lloyd can't sleep and a member of the party comes to talk to him... you know that part? At first, I thought it was just always the character I got, but from what the Synopsis said, it seems like it depends on the relationship values you have.

So, I'm curious, who did you guys get? I got Raine, which was awesome; her conversations with Lloyd are always great.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Unless you make an effort to make them super-duper AMAZING love you, it's generally going to be the Sylvarant people.

Also, you know if you refuse to speak to the first person that approaches you, you can get one of the other people who stayed behind to talk to Lloyd instead, right?

I guess I got Colette, Genis and Raine in order, although that's because at the time I didn't understand how affection worked. I want to see the Tethe'alla crew conversations, blah.


----------



## Keltena

Huh, didn't know that. Ah well; I think I would have gotten Colette and Genis next anyway, and I'd much rather talk to Raine. I doubt Presea or Zelos (the only two people I might choose over Raine) were high enough up there anyway, and Kratos wasn't an option.

Anyway, wow, this game seems to be nearing its end. (Now that I think of it, I should have gone with Colette. Give me back my healer, you assholes!)


----------



## Keltena

Double post. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But I just beat the game, and... well, I feel a little unfulfilled. I mean, we never learned Zelos's backstory (he has to have one, it was heavily hinted at), and, well... I guess the ending kind of depressed me, but that's beside the point. (Why, oh why, can't the party just stay together and be one big happy family? D; (Answer: because that would make no sense, you idiot.))

And, I mean... I don't know, but I feel like there's more than one loose end, and I really don't get why, because it was such an awesome game why _wouldn't_ they have finished it properly?

(Also what's this I hear about an ending where Zelos dies? O_O)


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Salamander said:


> and Kratos wasn't an option.


You didn't deny enough people. Say no to everyone who wants to talk to you and Kratos comes instead, regardless of who loves you or doesn't love you. But then... see the last thing I quoted.

Anyway, next time you play through the game try saving before the conversation scenes and resetting after you talk to one person, then talk to the next one. And if you make a backup save of the game in another slot at that point, you can get both the ending you got and, by making sure you speak to Kratos in the backup, the alternate ending without having to play through twice. Not that you won't want to play again anyway, but you can still get two endings out of one playthrough. S'cool.

I also recommend that you do try to leave Colette as the one who loves you best least once, as when she's the one who rescues you in Torent Forest the subsequent trip to Welgaia makes a lot more sense. It doesn't work _quite_ as well when they try to apply other people's personal problems to her. I'm still having trouble seeing how she fits into the whole Alicia thing, so I'm a little scared to try and get Regal or Presea to love me. :/



Salamander said:


> Double post. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But I just beat the game, and... well, I feel a little unfulfilled. I mean, we never learned Zelos's backstory (he has to have one, it was heavily hinted at), and, well... I guess the ending kind of depressed me, but that's beside the point.)


The characters' Wikipedia articles have a lot of stuff in them. No idea where they got it, because as you said it was never in-game (manga, maybe? I never finished it), but it's there.



> And, I mean... I don't know, but I feel like there's more than one loose end, and I really don't get why, because it was such an awesome game why _wouldn't_ they have finished it properly?


...that's why there's a sequel coming out next month? :D Still haven't preordered that sucker, hm. I need to stop stalling and waiting for a coupon/for Circuit City to get it with the free shipping at all, because I'm having a hard time believing that Gamestop is only charging 40 dollars for it instead of 50. Need to get it before they hike up the price...



> (Also what's this I hear about an ending where Zelos dies? O_O)





Spoiler



Speak with Kratos in Flanoir and you fight Zelos instead of that lame Gatekeeper thing. He's mortally wounded after the fight, though, so he says some stuff and then dies. Kratos will rejoin your party, however. They "had to" kill Zelos in order to give you an option to get Kratos back, since they're practically identical; I still don't understand why _he_ couldn't have been too injured to fight the way Kratos was, or why it would be so terrible to have two characters with similar styles, or one extra party member; they're still two separate _people_, and the story could've been more interesting if they were both there.

...also that battle annoys me because Zelos can use Judgment in it. Why can't he use it when he's on your side? D:


----------



## Keltena

A sequel, huh? My mom will be thrilled. Dx

Kratos comes to talk to you, really? (Thinking about it, I actually don't remember the game giving me an option of yes/no, but it probably did.) I... really wish I'd known that. Too late now, though, unless I want to replay the entire freaking game. Dx

...ah. I wondered what I was missing... when do you talk to him in Flanoir, though? o.o

Still, even if there's a sequel coming out, I think it's kind of messy of them to not wrap everything up in the first game. I mean, they hinted at his backstory so heavily, they should have revealed it before the end of the game. D;

...soyeah.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

When I said; refuse to talk to everyone else that night.

Oh, there are a million things they didn't wrap up properly. They wouldn't wrap _everything_ up, especially since the sequel follows the original so closely (it's like... two years after, I think?), but it was a little annoying. One thing that bothers me is that Noishe seems to have no point whatsoever. He has a story, too, you know, and then on top of that they keep making a big deal out of the fact that supposedly he can transform into Superman or whatever. And yet... nothing. So they'd better pick that up in the sequel or else... I mean, they could've just given them some random horsedragon to ride on or something like everyone else has and not go out of their way to make up a weird dogasaurus with no other purpose. Cute weird dogasaurus, but still.



Spoiler



I also hate the fact that, and no I will never let anyone hear the end of this, they had to make Kratos leave. You got the ending where Zelos lives so you didn't see this, but Kratos takes Zelos's place with Sheena when he rejoins the party and you go to Welgaia, so he gets confronted with the whole "stop being a traitorous coward" deal. And then, after he agrees to clean up his act... he _leaves._ The_ planet. _What the hell? He _just_ got through telling everyone he wasn't going to run away from his problems anymore, and then he turns around, completely ignores the fact that there's 4000 years' worth of "you and your friends screwed up the world" that he should be working to repair, and takes a couple of rocks and goes to live on the moon with them. AND there was that whole thing about everyone's life having worth and you should do important things for as long as you can instead of just giving up... what the hell does he expect to do alone on the moon? I want to know why Lloyd didn't yell at him and tell him to stay. D< Obviously Kratos learned absolutely _nothing_ from the events of this game.

And I'm not just upset about it because he's my favorite character otherwise; even if I hated his guts I would've wanted him to stay because it would've been more in tune with the growth he was supposed to go through as a character. I would've wanted him to get run over by an Arma Boar shortly afterward, but he should've stayed on principle anyway!

While I'm trying to avoid spoiling the sequel for myself I did see something about Kratos... narrating it? Something like that, don't remember and don't want to verify it. But he's on the cover of the Japanese game, so he comes back in some way for _something_. And if Namco doesn't resolve that nasty little issue from the original game I am going to carry out my threat of shoving heated metal rods up where the sun don't shine.


----------



## Keltena

...I just realized. Dx We were talking about completely different nights. The one where I said I thought you didn't have a choice was the one in _Heimdall_, not Flanoir.

...I get it now.

God, now I really wish I'd somehow been psychic and kept a save file from way back.

...yeah, that _really_ pissed me off, too.


----------



## Lupine Volt

Yah...

On the subject of backstory, most of it is revealed through his Flanoir scene and a couple of sidequests. 

Oh, and on the subject of Colette in the place of Alicia's scene  If you have Regal, she points out to Presea that Alicia is dead, and Presea will attack her, and if you have Presea, she tries to tell Regal that it might not be an illusion. Mithos shows up to goad either of them to Kill Colette so that Martel will have her body. 


...and, on the subject of Kratos leaving, I hated that too. If it helps, he appears in a cameo for Tales of Vesperia, so I like to think that he somehow ended up there...which means that, eventually, someone's gonna write a fanfiction about that.


----------



## voltianqueen

I still wanna see the scenes for Zelos, Presea, and Regal... XP

ToS2 Spoiler, I guess: I watched this clip from the new game on YouTube, and it was Yuan talking to a hologram-type thing of Kratos. It was in Japanese, so I have no idea what they were saying, but it made me happy. I wonder if he does anything important.


----------



## Retsu

Animorph said:


> ...and, on the subject of Kratos leaving, I hated that too. If it helps, he appears in a cameo for Tales of Vesperia, so I like to think that he somehow ended up there...which means that, eventually, someone's gonna write a fanfiction about that.


He's hard as hell, too. One of the cheapest Mystic Artes/hi-ougis in the series.


----------



## Dannichu

Aww, it means you have more incentive to replay the game to get everyone's Flanoir/Heimdall scenes :D

...of course, you can watch them on Youtube, too, but that's cheating. I do recommend Zelos and Sheena's, though, because they're so... personality-developing (poor Zelos ;;). I also adore Genis and Raine's. Presea's is meh, and Regal's was hilarious because, like I said before, it was basically "blah blah Lezereno Company", which was a shame because I really wanted something to endear me to Regal.

I just realized that I'm going to have to go back and replay the game just to have Colette as my Flanoir-scene buddy (which should be fun because I'm fairly sure she depises me because 8 playthroughs of picking every option to make her hate me must have done _something_) so I can have the Flanoir Bunny or whatever that item she gives you is to complete my item list. I've got Zelos and Kratos' already, thank goodness :3
The Kratos route was really good, actually, because it also gave me Zelos in the Monster Manual :D


----------



## Eclipse

Oh, right, before I forget to bring it up, is it just me, or does Karol look disturbingly alot like Lloyd? Karol must be a descendant from him... o_O


----------



## Retsu

What? Karol and Lloyd have... _nothing_ in common. o.o Well, they're both adolescents and idealists, I guess, but that's about it.


----------



## Eclipse

I mean their hairstyle. I swear, someone drew Lloyd, and I thought it was Karol, and someone drew Karol in drag and I thought it was Lloyd. D:


----------



## Lupine Volt

Well...Kratos is in the game...after who knows how long of floating in space...*Look left, look right, quietly begins scribbling something that looks suspiciously like fanfiction on a piece of paper*


----------



## Keltena

Playing a New Game+ now on ToS. I am way too obsessed for my own good, but I guess it's not like I have anything else to do all day.

Ohhhh, and guess what? I finally pulled off a U. Attack! :D *is inordinately proud of taking more than a whole game to get one mechanic right* I still think they're useless, but oh well, 'tis fun at least.

Up to that evil, victory-is-optional boss (you know the one, I think). I had 30 Apple and Orange Gels, 22 Life Bottles, and I still lost _horribly._ I look forward to watching that huge cutscene again. D: (My brother's suggestion? Have both healers in my party. *facepalm* Yeah, it would _definitely_ help if I had Kratos in my party for this... 



Spoiler: the Tower of Salvation



because then he wouldn't be trying to kill me.


)

Any suggestions? Dx


----------



## Dannichu

I'd suggest mastering Unison Attacks, actually :3

They're a lot less useless as they seem; combo Unison Attacks (uuh, I can recommend Raine's Photon in combianation with either Lloyd's Tempest or Colette's... Ray Thrust?) are much stronger than normal attacks, and Unisons are doubly-awesome because you can interrupt a spell your enemy's charging and they fall down for a few seconds after the attack; physical attacks don't do too much damamge to floored enemies, but the few seconds can be crucial to having your mages charge something good :D

Yeah, you'll need Raine in your team, and keep her alive as much as possible. If she has it, get her to Barrier herself at the start of the battle, and use Sharpness on your main attacker (probably Lloyd) if nobody needs immediate healing. I forget which moves you'll have at this point in the game, but group-healing moves like Nurse are always better than single-character-healing movies like First Aid.
And training like hell is always a good technique :3

Good luck!


----------



## Keltena

Ah, okay. I'll try them next time I do that fight, then... forgot the last few times. Yeah, I did know about that combo, but I've had trouble pulling it off.

I think I'm having trouble partially because I'm so bad at guarding properly; I always guard for the first attack or two and then forget he's going to combo it with Light Spear or whatever and get hacked to pieces by that. D=

Have Raine in my party? I never would have considered that, seeing as, you know, you can choose from exactly four characters for that fight. :D I _wish_ I had Nurse (maybe I'll grind in the Tower of Mana 'til I get it... *sigh*), but yeah, she casts buffs for the four seconds at the beginning of the battle before she has to get busy healing people like mad.

Thanks for the help. I think I got him down to like... 6,000 out of 22,500 last time? Still so far to go... I guess I can start by getting those last eight Life Bottles, anyway.


----------



## Lupine Volt

*Actually, the correct combination is Raine's Photon adn Colette's Ring Whirlwind, Whirlwind Rush, or Ring Cyclone* Yah...Fun. God I love unison attacks...

Anyways, for the Optional victory fight, I let Lloyd go to the CPU and I use Sheena instead. Having her cook a lot before hand helps, because that builds up her tension meter, and then when Sheena goes into overlimit...*Smiles evilly and flashes rings of the pact* Also, it helps if you go back to the seals of Wind and Fire, because you can actually form pacts with weaker versions of Silph and Efreet that should be about the same difficulty level as when you fight them eventually later. That way, you can have their much more accurate attacks at the boss, as opposed to Four random pillars of water that Mr. Purplepants can easilly avoid by actually moving while A random blue chick shows up out of nowhere and misses three times...Oh, and I level grind lots and lots. *Stupid Lloyd-like grin*


----------



## Dannichu

...can you tell I never have Colette in my team? XD

And lol @ Mr. Purplepants X3


----------



## Lupine Volt

...Dangit, now my mind automatically replaces his name with Mr. Purplepants...Having Lloyd shout that in serious, hurt tones now makes me crack up in laughter. 

Personally, Colette is a pretty strong fighter on my team. I usually use Zelos, Sheena, Lloyd and Colette, because Zelos can be a pretty good healer when he needs to be, and also assists in slashy slashy. 

...By the way, during your first fight with Sheena, can anyone else just picture Lloyd laughing when she pulls out her cards...before she Pyre seals him into a tree...because it's also causing me to crack up...


----------



## Keltena

..._Mr. Purplepants._ x3 Pure win. I will totally call him that from now on.

Colette is strong, but I switch her out after the seals because I think Sheena is more useful all-around, and also to get used to using her because you have to in so many bossfights. Even if she doesn't give you hilarious end-of-battle dialogue. ("I wonder what that creature's name is..." "I like 'Poochie!'" "...no, dear, I meant the species." xD And then there's the "Our weapons are love!" "Justice! And..." "*sigh* ...hope." And "Colette, we need a cure for poison!" "Don't be silly, I'm not poisoned!" "No... I meant me." ...yeah.) I think my team ended up being Presea, Sheena, Raine and Zelos (because when you have a character who gets stat bonuses for _every female in your party_, how do you _not_ put them on your all-female team? =D)

Summon Spirits of Wind and Fire? In _my_ optional bossfight? o: (It's more likely than you think!) I will totally do that, thanks for the advice~ Cooking, huh... Yeah, Lloyd will probably be of better use if I just let the CPU use him. xD I just hope I can control Sheena without getting her killed even more than she already dies.

...and, you know what? I'm getting really, _really_ sick of Lloyd saying "I'm sorry, Dad..." whenever he dies. Stop apologizing to him, you idiot! Dx

I don't know, but I remember laughing hysterically myself and having to pause the game when I realized she fought by giving you papercuts. xD


----------



## Dannichu

To be fair, Sheena has a couple of good battle-ending quites herself. My favourite one being:
"Did you see my attack?" "Oh yeah, baby, I was watching~" "For some reason, I don't think _that's _what you were focusing on."
And she has a hilarious one with Raine at some point which ends with Raine saying "Let's just leave her here." which makes me giggle. Why does Raine have such a problem with Sheena, anyway? She doesn't care when Presea or Zelos or, hell, _Regal_ joins your team.

My final team's normally Raine, Genis, Presea and Sheena. 
Presea for the absurdly powerful attacks (and I'm damn good at controlling her now), Sheena for the speed and summoing pow0rz (also, having a revival ability isn't bad), Raine for the immense healing abilities, supporting movies like Field Barrier, and White Magic like Ray (and I love and adore her <3), and Genis for the absurdly powerful Black Magic and the Unison Attack Prism Stars.


----------



## Keltena

Ah, yes. Well, Zelos just makes everything generally more hilarious IMO.
Aw, haven't gotten that one yet. D=

Dear game: For the love of Martel, do _not_ put a really hard bossfight after an enormous cutscene _and_ another bossfight. _Please._ For everyone's sake...

...and why is it I always forget I have Unison Attacks during that fight? Not that it would have made a huge difference, but still... I have Nurse now, and I'm _still_ losing... I think the problem is that I keep getting to that stage in the fight where you just can't spam healing items fast enough. =/

Oh, well. Back to grinding, or maybe just back to that fight when I have the patience...


----------



## Lupine Volt

Dannichu said:


> And she has a hilarious one with Raine at some point which ends with Raine saying "Let's just leave her here." which makes me giggle. Why does Raine have such a problem with Sheena, anyway? She doesn't care when Presea or Zelos or, hell, _Regal_ joins your team.


Well, to be fair, Sheena attempts to assasinate Colette twice  while they were under the impression that they were simply going to save the world...that might leave a slight impression on Colettes Teacher, and semi mother figure. 

...But I wish they had left Regal lying there in the forest...then we wouldn't have to deal with his riddiculous atoner backstory. *Sighs* It's small consolation that you can choose to fight with random monsters instead of him in Dawn of the New World...*Sighs*


----------



## Dannichu

Yeah, but that's my point; nobody can say Presea's not suspicious, with her pink hair and killer strength, Zelos obviously has a deeper agenda than he's letting on, andRegal's tried to kill them before and she doesn't really seem to care about them inviting him to join them. Of course, it's highly possible by now that she's noticed that what Lloyd says goes (for some reason o.O) and doesn't even bother protesting any more.


----------



## Lupine Volt

Well, the fact that Presea is sort of a little girl with some sort of trauma may be why Raine let her on. Plus, why is pink hair suspicious? Her's is naturally white, and she's already been traveling with a purple haired ninja. If anything, Regals hair, which is the same blue as Yuans, should be more suspicious. 

Continuing with Presea, Raine probably noticed her Exsphere. Considering the fact that without her own, she could only heal people one at a time, she might have just dismissed this as Tethe'alla's superior technological advances in exspheres.  

As for Zelos, Raine accepts him coming as a condition for being able to roam freely through this new world. He can fight, he can get them into places, and he sort of seems like an idiot when you first meet him. Raine's already proved to be pretty darn...goal oriented*Such as waiting until Sheena spills the beans in Luin before considerin healing her* So, Zelos probably justed seemed odd. 

And, as for Regal, I suppose she figured that more fighting power was good for the group. 

...On a completely different topic, has anyone else noticed that Regal's out of battle overworld sprite sort of reminds you of some sort of fish...look at the shape of his mouth sometimes...


----------



## Keltena

People with blue hair? You've got it wrong, it's people with _purple clothes_. All out to get you, I swear. Dx I mean, there's Sheena, who _will_ kill you the next time she sees you, and then there's Mr. Purplepants... who I just beat~ =D I think the advice on U. Attacks really helped... Yay, Photon Tempest! I'll be taking that Lv. 3 Exgem now~

Also, wow... No negative GRADE? o.o (No positive GRADE either, but still... I was sure I was going to lose all that GRADE I got from Remiel earlier.)

Didn't even get a chance to summon, and I still won~ So happy.


----------



## Dannichu

Actually it's people with names ending with "os"; Kratos, Zelos and Mithos all betray you horribly XD

I said "pink hair" in the "don't you think there's something suspicious about this tiny little 12-year-old girl being able to lift weights that grown men can't shift?" kinda-way.

Regal gets _the _best D: face sometimes. Uum, it happens whenever everyone is shocked, but the best example I can think of is when Forcystus shoots Colette outside the Iselia Ranch. I left the screen on his face and laughed for way too long.


----------



## Keltena

So, I was looking at TV Tropes' Better Than It Sounds page (have I mentioned yet today that I _love_ TV Tropes?), and I found this for ToS. There are also ones for all the other Tales games.


> You fight against angels led by a legendary hero and ruin his plans for world peace. A ninja plays a key role in the story.


Moral of the story: TV Tropes is _awesome. _=D


----------



## Kratos Aurion

That sounds like something you'd get from a Seventh Sanctum generator. Which is always a good thing. :D

Hurry up, ToS2 release date, so my game will come in the maaaiiil


----------



## Keltena

Hurry up, Christmas, so I can possibly get ToS2 and a Wii to play it on... D=


----------



## Lupine Volt

Yah...I hear they actually put in a new feature, doubling the amount of move shortcuts you can use in battle. Which is pretty good.


----------



## voltianqueen

I'm thinking ToS2 comes out on the eleventh. Which is Tuesday... Ah joy. My mommy's getting it for me. <3

I wonder if I can use a classic controller for it... I hate using the Wii remote & nunchuk. >_<


----------



## Keltena

Guyyyyys. D= Help. I'm doing a New Game+, and I'm stuck on 



Spoiler: early in Disc 2



Kuchinawa


. I'd leave him 'til later in the game, but I don't know when the last chance to fight him is (does anyone know?), and I'm afraid I'll miss it like I did on my first playthrough. Any tips for how to beat him? Sheena is level 51 right now, and I have her equipped with Black Onyx (+30% HP) and Guardian Symbol (+10% Def).


----------



## Kratos Aurion

D: Gosh, I really wish I could be more help with these things, Salamander, but I *still* haven't gotten around to a proper replay and totally don't remember what I did to beat him. Um, all I remember is spamming Sheena's life-draining seal like what. I know that the second time I left Sheena on autopilot... I'm honestly not sure why, but it worked within one or two tries. I'm sure you'd rather do it yourself, as I normally would, but at least it's there to fall back on if you get desperate. That or grinding, as I also don't remember what level I was around then, either.

ToS2 finally came... but I told myself I wouldn't so much as remove the shrinkwrap until I hit 50,000 words on NaNo/November ended, whichever comes first. DAMN YOU LACK OF MOTIVATION TO WRITE

DAMN YOU TO HELL


----------



## Retsu

ToS2 has been received very poorly by Japanese critics; so far from what I've read the main complaints are linearity, audio, and visuals. Looks like Namco didn't give the developers a huge budget, which sucks. =/ I'll still try it eventually, but I'm content with 100%-ing Vesperia for now.

Salamander: Sheena's _broken_ if used properly. Spam Cyclone Seal and run under him when he jumps up.


----------



## Keltena

That... kind of sucks. D: I'm still going to be all over ToS2 as soon as I get it, but... hm. Oh, well, should still be quite fun.

And thanks. I'll try spamming Cyclone and Life Seals once I have them both, then. Plus, I now have paper money for her. Fwee.

I've made a decision: 



Spoiler: one of the endings



either Zelos decides that he likes me and wants to be my best friend, or he dies. Yeah, I don't take rejection well. =/


 The problem is, _everyone's_ my soulmate now except Regal (even... Presea, somehow? o.o), so I'm not sure who my top three are. (I have a guess, though... and it doesn't include the person I want.)


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Urgh, don't _say_ anything about good or bad reviews until I've had a chance to play for myself, I can never get them out of my thoughts when I'm trying to form my own opinion D:


----------



## Retsu

If it makes you feel any better, _Famitsu Wii+DS_ gave is 35/40, and they're apparently tough to please.


----------



## voltianqueen

I...never beat Kuchinawa. I'm so ashamed. ;_;

I just got ToS2 today, so I don't really have much to say about it yet. Except everytime Emil talks I think of Guy from Abyss, cos they have the same voice actor. But you knew that... 
Also, I very much dislike Lloyd's new voice. It's just not him... :(


----------



## Keltena

Zelos loves me, Kuchinawa is defeated and I have a million new costumes~ Could life get any better? =D I have now moved on to hating 



Spoiler: Devil's Arms sidequest



Abyssion


's guts, not because he seems like he'd be all that difficult if I actually_ remembered to bring Life Bottles_ but because he lost me about an hour of save data. Ick. Maybe I'll just settle for beating 



Spoiler: Tower of Salvation, take three



Kratos


 half to death with paper fans instead.

Lloyd has a new voice actor? D= But I liked his voice already.

In other news, my brother has decided that Remiel is the head of an unknown conspiracy -- when pressed for details, he explained that if he knew what it was about it wouldn't be unknown -- and that Sheena's homeland uses the souls of their slain enemies as a power source. Go figure.


----------



## Retsu

Spoiler: Devil's Arms



Abyssion


 is much easier if you use an All-Divide. He'll die more slowly, but at least you'll have a chance to actually get around to doing damage.


----------



## Keltena

Exactly what I was planning to do~ :D All-Divides are a wonderful invention especially when you're down to one character and no Life Bottles and have 10000 HP to go

EDIT: Um. What I said about him being easy with some Life Bottles and a couple All-Divides? You can kind of just forget I said that, m'kay? Dx


----------



## voltianqueen

I love Abyssion! He is so so much fun! xD
I always fight him right before I go to the final battle~

Has anyone done the Niflheim sidequest? I think that's what it's called... That place really pisses me off.

Remiel probably really is the head of an unknown conspiracy... My sister likes to make this stuffed dog we have do scary things and she says that it's possessed by Remiel. :D


----------



## Keltena

He is_ not_! D; He is made of _pure evil. _...actually, that's probably technically correct. o.o

No idea what it is... how does one trigger this sidequest? c=

...seriously? Heh, and I thought my brother was crazy for making Remiel into one of my favorite characters.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Salamander said:


> No idea what it is... how does one trigger this sidequest? c=


After you find the Sacred Stone/Soul Stone (silly interchangeable names) in Vinheim, go to the Sybak library and inspect this wonky-looking book on the bottom of one of the shelves. Talk to one of the researchers (don't remember which), then go to Heimdall and speak to a green-haired elf near the elder's house or someplace. After that, you should be able to go back to the wonky book and enter Niflheim. I'm fairly sure that's it.

Niflheim is fun. It's pretty much the only place I can grind levels without getting bored. Which seems counter-intuitive given how repetitive the place itself is, but I don't care. As a matter of fact, I've never even finished it properly. Even when I did the quick rush-finish of the game I left it open; when I go back to the slightly older save file to finish it properly I'll probably close Niflheim, but only like, right before the final boss. As long as you don't get stuck with a string of crap enemies on the floors (and finding the good ones isn't that hard), it's pretty decent for experience.


----------



## Keltena

Hm... okay. Will do.

In other news, _I beat 



Spoiler: Devil's Arms



Abyssion!


 _Raine + Zelos + Regal = healing overdose... I didn't even run out of gels by the end of the battle. For a while there, though, it was a pretty close fight to see which would run out first, his TP or his HP.

Sooo... when do my Devil's Arms start getting supersuperstrong? ^^;


----------



## Lupine Volt

Well, technically, Raine's is already her strongest, considering she needs her intelligence stat boosted instead of strength...meaning that Genis's is already useless. However, for everybody else, each kill they make counts for a little more strength...*Points to Iselia on world map* TO MOOCHVILLE!


----------



## Keltena

Totally didn't notice that. *equips it* Awesome.

Can anyone offer some advice for the second fight with Sheena? My brother's really stuck on it. He's going after the guardian first, using items when needed, and setting everyone who can to 'Heal', so I'm not sure why he keeps losing. He's tried using both Lloyd/Colette/Kratos/Genis and Lloyd/Colette/Kratos/Raine (I think he's doing a little better with Genis, though). It's kind of an annoying fight, since you have to fight the guardian of the seal first and don't get a chance to save. I didn't have any trouble on it my first time, so I'm really not sure what's going wrong here. Help?


----------



## voltianqueen

I always go for Sheena first... But that's just me. And I always use Lloyd/Kratos/Genis/Raine~

Niflheim would've been okay if I hadn't said "yes" when it asked if I wanted to return to the beginning or whatever it said... >_>


----------



## Lupine Volt

Well, I spammed unison attacks, and I think that Colette's holy song really helped me out.


----------



## Keltena

He says he'll give U. Attacks, and possibly playing as Colette (so she doesn't DIE) a try. Thanks for the help~ (I wish he'd let me play Lloyd for him... D:)

Also, I think I found the best thing on deviantArt. Period. (Super spoilers for Disc 2! =O)


----------



## Kratos Aurion

That is awesome, although I get the impression that Lloyd would be more *flail D:D:D:D: what are you _doing_* than anything else. :P

...the reverse would probably also be true, huh. They are so _awkward_ and it's amazing~ boy I hope it stays adorable and awkward in ToS2 (VOLTIANQUEEN _DON'T SAY ANYTHING_)


----------



## voltianqueen

o.o

What stays awkward?


----------



## Keltena

Spoiler: Disc 2, kind of?



Lloyd and Kratos.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Specifically, their father-son relationship.


----------



## voltianqueen

Oh~ ^^
I haven't even seen him yet, and Lloyd is being mean... T_T


----------



## Lupine Volt

Warning: The Spoilers below contain information about ToS2
 OH MY GOD! I loved it, I loved it, I loved it! With the Plot twists...and the Emarta...it was fluffy and adorable and nice...Oh, and YAY! YOU CAN MAKE LLOYD AND COLETTE ADMIT THEIR LOVE FOR EACHOTHER! ...Actually, Lloyd basically does that with all the female characters...sorry to the slash fans out there...hehe! *Dances* 

...Sorry, just had to get that off my chest. Though my one complain is that the game is a bit too short.


----------



## Keltena

You people with your fancy Wiis and your fancy sequels... D; I'm still stuck replaying ToS and trying to make Sheena like me more than Colette. (Impossible? Probably.)

Sooo. Is ToS2 good? :D


----------



## voltianqueen

ToS2 is fun~ I need to stop being lazy and beat it already. :3

I got Sheena in my last playthrough~


----------



## Anything

Hi! I'm back! I haven't posted here for a REALLY LONG TIME, so probably none of you remember me. I just wanted to ask wether Lloyd is a playable character or not in ToS2.


----------



## Keltena

Hi guys just wanted to say

this and this are hilarious. Chikuto is just generally made of win, actually.

soyeah.


----------



## Dannichu

XDDDD Oh, that's _brilliant_. 

There were far too many bits that made me laugh, but the constant child abuse, Botta being BRITISH, Kratos going "Sorted.", Big Daddy Remiel, Marble's nose, Frank going "Colette Colette Colette", the Rengades going "Let's proclaim how the mechanism in this room works!", the BRIT SMASH, Genis, uh, lovin' Lloyd aaaaand aaah I love these and can't wait for more <3333


----------



## Kratos Aurion

That is hilarious, yes. She needs to hurry up and finish this so she can do some for ToS2, though. I'm waiting until I actually fully complete it (fffff stop with the stupid last-second mystic artes when I am out of life bottles and should be doing homework, screw you last/second to last boss [not sure yet don't tell me] you made me lose my highest hit combo ever, too) to decide whether or not I like the story better than the original, but the second one has Tenebrae and Tenebrae automatically gives everything +bignumber to funny, mean and awesome.

sparkle thparkle


----------



## voltianqueen

Oh my god!!! xDDDD
Those are amazing! Laughed the hardest at Marble's nose and Botta's Brit Smash~

Just made my day, and it's only 6am.


----------



## Kratos Aurion

OKAY SO I finished ToS2 today. And I want to rant about it to someone but I know that only like two of you here have it so here, have a huegrant!spoilertagged. I mean, I'll try not to totally ruin absolutely everything ever, but still. Farking massive post full of blue or whatever color up ahead.



Spoiler: pretty much everything in a nutshell, maybe I'll sort it out better later when I care so other people can at least see some of it without having the story ruined for them



So, my overall impression is that, in general, it's a very good game. I definitely enjoyed it. The story was interesting--I knew from the outset that it couldn't possibly be as simple as it sounded, and I was able to guess parts of it pretty accurately, but it still threw enough wrenches into the works to keep me on my toes and guessing--it was fun seeing most of (!) the characters again and Tenebrae is pretty much the best thing in ever. I guess in the end I do prefer the original for a number of reasons, but I'd definitely recommend that everyone here who can at least give it a try. :3

Emil and Marta are pretty cool characters. Emil isn't _that_ different from the other cowardly heroes you see sometimes, at least not at the beginning, but it still isn't something you see that often. He grows nicely and the Jekyll and Hyde-esque aspect of his character is done really well, especially his/their relationship with Marta and the others. Marta can be annoying at times but is most certainly deeper and more interesting than Colette. (I still don't hate Colette, but yeah.) Tenebrae is, as you will hear me say many times, amazing, and he is a very refreshing change from most of the Summon Spirit-and-similar characters in the original games (so were Ratatosk and Aqua, for that matter). Gnome was really the only semi-interesting Summon Spirit in the original, and of course since the Summon Spirits weren't that important as characters that didn't matter at all. But Tenebrae is funny, mysterious, spiteful, jealous, oversensitive, intelligent, brave, stupid on occasion... he's great, in other words. :3

The villains were alternately really cool and kind of boring, by contrast. Richter was awesome but hella confusing (in a good way), a la Kratos, although there was something a little... _off_ about his motivations in the end. They were cool enough for a desperate guy, and it works out after he tells you what his final plans really were, but... I dunno, there's just something that bothers me and I can't put my finger on it. I really couldn't bring myself to feel threatened by Alice and Decus (why on earth do they spell his name that way when it's pronounced "Dex" and would be easier to remember/spell like that anyway); Alice was just weird and slightly annoying and Decus was little more than an oddball, honestly. I mean, it was pretty funny how he thought Emil (and everyone else) was gay for him, and the cologne stuff was amusing, but that freakish swaying totally threw me off and seemed unnecessary. Effective enough as villains when it all came down to it, but ToS's bad guys were better overall. Brute probably could've been a great villain if he'd gotten more screentime, though.

Also I want to gouge Richter's eyes out with his own glasses for teaching Emil that "courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality" thing. UGH IT'S SO LAME THAT IT HURTS WHY RICHTER WHY D<

The monsters, hm, what can I say about the monsters. Interesting enough mechanic, if really only tacked on to feed off of the popularity of Pokémon, and handled well enough. It was kind of hard gaining new monsters, especially in the beginning, and for the longest time I only had the two that Tenebrae helped me catch (the imp sucked but I love my wolf... mmm, Huangdi~) plus one or two that I was able to get by sheer luck. It wasn't so bad getting monsters spellbound towards the middle and end, after I'd hatched some Centurions and given Emil some elemental attacks, but in the beginning when he doesn't have any elemental attacks to speak of you have to rely on Marta (and the others) and the monsters themselves to line up the elemental grid and activate spellbinding. That's not easy, since you either have to use Marta/the other humans yourself, which may not be comfortable for you, or else constantly turn on/off over half the artes in your party so that people only spam a single element of arte. That and you can't control what the enemy monsters do, of course, so if you're trying to line up Lightning while the Blue Roses around you keep abusing their Water-element Life Force move... ugh.

...also I fail at making pacts even after I get them into spellbind, but that's just me, I suspect. I even got that skit where Tenebrae and Marta yell at you and say "you just failed to make a pact with ten freaking monsters in a row YOU KIND OF SUCK EMIL". :/

And my monster book is barely complete at all. ): Obviously just running through what's necessary for the story barely scratches the surface. I'm sure that there are a few monsters you can only get through evolution, but that can't possibly leave as many gaps in the book as I have. I guess going on quests and doing the coliseum might introduce some more, but as I say later I didn't bother much with those for various reasons. Besides, the ones that I did do consisted mostly of monsters I'd either already seen or monsters that I would see shortly afterward in the main story; other than a "boss" or two, like the Rock Golem in one of them, there wasn't anything new. I'm rather confused about that, since I kinda wanna catch 'em all. *shot*

I miss the old monster manual, though. I do like the little informational snippets about the species, and it is nice that you can get full information on a species without having to spend money (albeit not a lot) on Magic Lenses _and_ have a specific character use them, but it feels like the other one had more information in it. It also included human enemies (ludicrous as that was... ohaithur, Sheena, Regal, Zelos and Kratos, you are monsters nao k? :D) and bosses; while that's unnecessary in ToS2, since you can't catch humans and bosses, it just felt more complete to me. Oh, and I find it very annoying that you can't see TP remaining or the elemental alignment of an enemy when you check its stats during battle. Granted, in the case of normal monsters you can just remember which ones you can find in your current location and then look them up in the book (only for the alignment, though), but that's tedious. And, since they aren't in the book for you to check, that doesn't help at all when you're dealing with human enemies or bosses; at that point you just have to guess or completely ignore the elemental chart, go for the jugular and hope for the best. That works well enough, but I don't like it.

Evolving monsters by feeding them was weird, especially since several of my monsters are apparently incredibly picky and didn't like most of the recipes I was able to find. I almost never used cooking just to raise stats, but that was because I was in a hurry, some of the ingredients were hard to find without expending some degree of effort (RRRGH where is the MILK) and, again, most of them were really finicky. It was a little weird how, after evolving to a certain monster, the next time your monster was able to evolve it would turn back into its original, usually much less impressive form; while I guess in the end it was okay because presumably it would still get progressively stronger each time it cycled back to the final form, I was sort of offended by the idea of having to turn my beautiful Fenrir back into a dinky, rather ugly little wolf and so stopped evolving him there. And getting the items you need for the special evolutions is either really hard (assuming I'm right in my guess about what those items are) or next to impossible (assuming I'm wrong, in which case I have no idea what you're supposed to be looking for).

The skits were _great._ Seriously. First of all, they actually added voice acting to them, so it's easier to follow along if you don't read quickly (I generally do, but it was still nice). And... and they're just _adorable_. Tenebrae picks on absolutely everyone and he's grumpy and vain and _amazing_. And even the skits without Tenebrae are cute/funny (much as I dislike relationships in general, Emil and Marta are just so dumb and awkward when it comes to their feelings for one another that I thought it was really cute) and just... aaaah. They also added some that were nice throwbacks to the first game--a "Quick-Jump" skit, stuff about Raine's Ruin Mode... even a skit where Presea pokes Tenebrae's "paw pads", which I am assuming is a nod to those "paw paw" skits in the original--I don't know, I never got to see them. If they involve Presea being as adorable as she was in this one, though, then I need to go dig up my skit transcript file and find them nao. She and Regal pretty much call him "Paw Pad" for most of the rest of the game, aww~ :3 Nobody ever gets Tenebrae's name right, haha.

There was also this one absolutely ridiculous skit with Zelos, shortly after he joins the party for the first time, where he serves Marta this, like, seven-course meal and only leaves bread and water for Emil. Then he tells Emil that he's "such a gentleman that he was gracious enough to send for _sparkling_ water" or something like that. I know it doesn't sound that abnormal at first, but it happens _while you are invading the Vanguard Fortress trying to rescue Zelos's sister_ and that is absolutely retarded. :D I know that a lot of skits have pretty hilariously awful timing as it is, and in more games than just the Tales series (waltzing Rennac and L'Arachel!), but Zelos "sending for sparkling water" while they're on a desperate mission in the enemy base is just too much, IMO. See, this is why they need to bring back the field map! At least then it would only be slightly retarded!

...Zelos only says "hunny" once in the entire game, though, blah. And it seems like he's a lot meaner to Sheena. He doesn't hit on her so much as repeatedly telling her "All you've got going for you is your chest!" or words to that effect. After which he gets clobbered, of course. :3 He was always pretty mean to her before, but... maybe she shot him down really badly at some point prior to the game, I dunno.

The original characters, yes. They were awesome, as always. The different voice actors the majority of them had were very difficult to get used to--come baaack, Scott Menville and Shiloh Strong D:--but it wasn't too bad. Actually, it might just be my bad memory talking, but it feels like the only returning character that did have the same voice actor was the mayor of Iselia. :/ I guess Colette and maybe Genis might have, and I really can't tell with Regal and Presea (I'm pretty sure Regal's is different, as I don't remember him having a slight British accent from time to time), but I know that Lloyd, Zelos and Sheena had new actors and I'm pretty confident that Raine did. They either didn't roll the names of the VAs in the credits or I missed them, though, so I can't tell for sure. Rgh, I need to play the original again and remind myself.

BUT ANYWAY they were great. They had a lot of cute, funny and clever moments, they all abused one another horribly (Tenebrae helped :D), they were true to character and fit into the story well. Oh, and in the very end Zelos finally gets Judgment. That's a minor thing, but it always ticked me off that Colette could learn Judgment and Kratos could learn Judgment and you could use them whenever you liked, but Zelos, despite having a movelist otherwise identical to Kratos's barring maybe one other move, could only use Judgment when he was trying to kill you. :/ I never did get a chance to have him use it, especially since switching Raine out for Regal worked so beautifully in the final battle and I had no reason to try other arrangements, but I'll be sure to do it at some point just for the principle of the thing. Even Colette and Regal were pretty cool, despite the fact that they seemed to annoy most people before.

...I mean, I'll probably always think they're all awesome no matter what. ToS and ToS2 are just some of those games where I cannot bring myself to hate anyone at all, at least as far as the main characters are concerned. (Chocolat and the mayor of Iselia came back, but they can still go _die_ in a _fire_. rrrgh I wanted to stab them.) I understand that Colette is a horribly shallow character, and that Regal's emoemoemo can be grating, and I make no excuses for them, but for whatever reason I just find it endearing instead of irritating. Anyway, they really weren't as bad this time around, I promise.

Regal also fights in his president's suit maybe 60% of the time and it is _so_ much better than the prison uniform/girlshirt. Unfortunately the art staff was lazy and didn't bother redrawing the status page pictures and skit headshots of the old characters, which meant that Regal had the stupid prison uniform on at all times in those pictures even when he didn't in the actual story (they changed it back and forth for the little pictures that go next to the HP/TP bars, why not just go all the way?). Bah.

Animorph is right, though: it is very short. I finished in ~37 hours, whereas my only finished ToS save file is like 112 hours or something. Effectively, it's only half the length of the first. The fact that they replaced the field map with a quick-jump world map didn't help; I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I generally prefer walking to jumping around a map in most RPGs. It would have allowed more time for leveling without having to grind or go out of your way--not that I ever once felt I was underleveled for anything, though, which I guess is good--and allowed for more monsters, those extra chests they had out in the field, and... eh, I dunno, I just like that way better. More sidequests and minigames and things definitely would've been nice as well; I know they had the quests, but those can get a little monotonous sometimes. I don't know, maybe they get better the further along you go. I didn't bother trying that many because I just wanted to finish the main story. I also didn't bother with the coliseum beyond the first party-battle round, partially because I was still in a hurry and partially because I'm generally not very confident when it comes to the coliseum anyway. There are probably still some cool weapons/titles to get there, and I'll give them a go the next time around, but yeah. More actual sidequests like Niflheim or the costume-title quests would have been great, though. (And if they were there, it would've been nice if they were a just a tad easier to find/trigger because I obviously totally missed them.)

The music and everything was nice, I thought, although it was hella annoying how the music drowned out the voice acting in some of the cinematics. If they hadn't had a transcript of the text at the bottom of the screen I might not have been able to follow half of what was going on. I tried adjusting the volume, but it never really helped; I guess you don't have that much control over the cinematics. :/ It would have been pretty nice if they hadn't played such happy, campy music during some of the minigames, though--I mean, I know it's a minigame and it's supposed to be fun, but in the end the stupid Garuda is still trying to _kill_ me and I don't think that happy-skippy-music is very appropriate!

The ending... eh, I wasn't so thrilled with the ending. I mean, it did its job and was certainly more consistent than whatever bad shit they were smoking when they came up with what happened to Kratos, but in places it felt cobbled together and a little rushed. I'm also sad about Richter... I'm glad that I didn't have to kill him and that he did turn out to be a great guy (if a bit melodramatic there), but now I don't want him to leave and I miss him. _And_ for all intents and purposes it seems like they got rid of Tenebrae as well, which is cruel. D< (At least there's still Genis, I guess. haha lol Lloyd is going to have an affair, you rock Genis.) There were a few things about what happened to Emil/Ratatosk/Richter that confused me, but I guess they're just technicalities and not huge problems so meh.

The final boss battles were also rather disappointing. Aqua/Ladon/whatever was lame after facing Decus and Alice. The battle with Richter was challenging enough and definitely took me a few tries (thank you Regal you are an effing godsend aaaah) but then there was the thing with Emil vs. Marta and Lloyd that confused the tar out of me--was I supposed to try and win or lose on purpose? The story progressed after I gave up trying to figure it out and just lost, which is fine, but what happens if I beat Lloyd and Marta? Game over?--and Emil vs. Ratatosk!Emil was a pathetic cakewalk. Lloyd vs. Kratos was harder than that... hell, Sheena vs. Kuchinawa was probably harder. :/ (I think Mithos and Mithos MkII were harder than Richter, too, by the way.) They were nice touches and were appropriate to the story, but they should have ramped up the difficulty on Emil vs. Emil, at least. And I think having to take control of Marta (or Lloyd, I guess) during the second-to-last battle would have been better, because then those two would still win as the story seems to require and it would be more challenging and satisfying. Admittedly, I guess I was kind of glad that they were easy because a difficult battle there might have meant losing and then having to do those _plus_ stupid Richter all over again, but it wasn't especially satisfying. I think that that little problem could have been easily resolved by having a demon lord or something come rampaging through the Ginnungagap or however you spell it.

Um, what else, what else... other little things:

-RRRGH they didn't explain why it was necessary for Kratos to effing leave. I am officially angry with Namco now. Again, I will remind you that this isn't just disappointed fanwhining--I still maintain that Kratos leaving totally broke his character development and ignored half of the stupid little mantras Lloyd kept chanting throughout the entire game. Way to not fix it, Namco. :/

-They also didn't do anything with Noishe. :/ That whole thing with the Mithos skit and the discussion in Heimdall was entirely pointless, then. Again, good job there.

-My understanding is that the whole thing with Presea "being sensititve to demons" also remained unexplored--they brought it up in the first game during the Devil's Arms sidequest but then dropped it, and Tenebrae mentioned it briefly here as well but then it was dropped again. Again, I have to ask... why, then? What's the point? Of course, there is the possibility that it _wasn't_ dropped in the first game--I never did finish Niflheim (burn the book, I mean; I always let it stay because I liked going back in), so it's possible that some closure or at least further explanation happened after destroying the book that I just haven't seen yet. Hmm. Can someone just tell me if that's the case or not, because I still don't like the idea of closing my booook D:

-I wish we'd gotten to see more of the Centurions' non-core forms. That isn't relevant in the slightest, of course; I just thought it was boring that we didn't. Just Tenebrae and Aqua, boo. They could've at least done Solum, since he was so important to the story and all...

-On that note, I wish we'd gotten to see what Ratatosk looked like before taking on Aster/Emil's form. Ratatosk is supposed to be based on some sort of squirrel-thing in Norse mythology (I have yet to look it up properly), and I keep picturing this weird giant squirrel causing all of this trouble. I've even been calling Emil's Ratatosk Mode "Squirrel Mode". But then... no squirrel. Boo.

-Sheena can't summon in battle anymore. D: Yeah, they took out Over Limit and all (well, some of the Vanguard can use Over Limit as a very annoying arte that I wish my people could learn), but they could've just put the Spirits in as regular artes the way they did it in Phantasia. Bah. Unless her mystic arte, which I haven't seen yet, has something to do with summoning, that is.

-urgh the bosses all have the most annoying mystic artes... they drop all of my party to just about 1 HP, rrgh, while Emil's Devil's Hellfire (cool as it is) attacks the weakpoint for massive damage but in the end isn't anywhere near as broken. I have yet to see the rest of the party's mystic artes because they don't use them when they're computer-controlled and I haven't had time to use all of them myself, and I doubt that anyone I have access to is as broken as Richter, Brute or Decus, but I am curious about them.

-I do not like Verius's womanvoice. I'm sure he didn't have a womanvoice before, what haaappened

-damn the monsters grow _fast_, by the way. My strongest is currently my Fenrir, Huangdi, at level 87 or something (Emil is only level 57, by comparison, and Marta's like 53), and that's after evolving him twice when he was already in the twenties and thirties. I don't like being outpaced like that, even though they don't actually seem to be that much stronger than my human party (barring the absolutely _massive_ HP and TP, that is). S'okay, though, because Huangdi is my baby~ *hugs*

-I wish you could name the monsters on your own, though. Some of the names were cool enough (again, Huangdi; that's the sort of thing I'd pick most of the time anyway), but others were meh and they were apparently random and ugh. Also, when I first looked at the back of the box I wasn't really paying attention to the screenshots, and so I saw this little yellow thing and did a double-take because I could've sworn it was a Pikachu. It was just a chimera, of course, but even after I got one of my own I still called it Pikachu just because. Damn the stupid game, his name isn't Petro, it's _Pikachu_. D<

-Tenebrae is still the best thing ever. :3


okay I _think_ I'm done now. There are a million other things I wanted to say but this post is already the size of Mt. Everest and I should probably stop.

There's probably a lot that I missed because I was plowing through the story in a hurry, and I'm sure there are easier ways of doing certain things; they're probably all on GameFAQs or wherever. I didn't bother looking, though, because I wanted to do everything I could on my own first. I'll probably snoop around some walkthroughs/guides on the next playthrough, though, so I don't skip as much.

So everyone else in the US get it fast and everyone not in the US go stab Ninty repeatedly until they release it wherever you are, because I want to taaaalk about it.

(Oh, and Danni/whoever else was worried about it before: In case you haven't heard, Regal/Raine isn't actually canon. I won't say why, but you can rest easy if it was bothering you. There's Emil/Marta, of course, because it's half the plot, Decus/Alice, because that's also sort of plot, and there's still some Sheena/Lloyd in there, but nothing else blatant or canon that I picked up on. Not that I, of all people, would go around looking for that sort of thing. :/

...okay, there was kind of _almost_ a moment of what you might call "Raine/Tenebrae", but that was really just Raine being all "I SIMPLY MUST DISSECT IT" again. I'm surprised she didn't actually try to take a scalpel to him.)

*breathes*


----------



## Lupine Volt

*Blink Blink*

Yay! Someone I can talk to on this! 

 Ok, now, I have to vent some things. 

Basically, the monster catching system could have been handled way better. And the skill system. But, mostly, it sucked that, until you fought your way to the centurion skills, your only two elemental artes are First Aid and Barrier. 

OHMYGOD! Wolves are the best monster's ever! *Hugs my Fenrir, Geo, and my Padfoot, Lithos(No, I kid you not. the Light elemental one I got is named Lithos.)* But I wanted to name them...

Also, why do none of the returning characters attempt to reveal what happened to Marta and Emil? The rest of the world I understand, but I think that these two could probably use a little knowledge. 

Damn you Namco...if you had to have him appear at all, have him say that he's dumped the freakin exspheres and is heading back to earth. 

Also, has anyone seen the skit about the "Symphonian 8"...The reader, Symphonian Red, has one of the "Dark Five" as his father....anyone else drawing parallels? *Raises eyebrows*

...Oh, and the cooking was dumb, and the sidequests were Ok. You actually get to see two members of the False Chosen Group in one...and that's all I've got to rant about.


----------



## Dannichu

The giant wall of blacked-out text saddens me ): 

But did you like it overall? Can you give things like plot/characters/music and things a rating out of 10 so I know what to expect? 
Muuuh I want to play iiiit~ (though it might be for the best that it's not out here now because I don't have a TV to play it on)

And yay! on Raine/Regal not being canon. *Ew.*


----------



## Keltena

Aaaaaaah. You people and your spoilers. >.<

So. I got the ending where 



Spoiler: disc 2



Zelos


 dies, and I'm now thoroughly depressed. ;_; SOMEBODY USE A LIFE BOTTLE ON HIM YOU JERKS D: D: D:

...um. Raine/Regal. That's, uh... kind of disturbing. o.o Where did that come from?


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Animorph said:


> *Blink Blink*
> 
> Yay! Someone I can talk to on this!
> 
> Ok, now, I have to vent some things.
> 
> Basically, the monster catching system could have been handled way better. And the skill system. But, mostly, it sucked that, until you fought your way to the centurion skills, your only two elemental artes are First Aid and Barrier.


I know, right? :/



> OHMYGOD! Wolves are the best monster's ever! *Hugs my Fenrir, Geo, and my Padfoot, Lithos(No, I kid you not. the Light elemental one I got is named Lithos.)* But I wanted to name them...


Wolves ftw. What's a Padfoot and how do you get it, though? That particular opportunity never seems to have presented itself to me, hmm.



> Also, why do none of the returning characters attempt to reveal what happened to Marta and Emil? The rest of the world I understand, but I think that these two could probably use a little knowledge.





Spoiler



That _was_ rather annoying. They kept telling the story the way Mithos, Kratos and Yuan made it up 4,000 years ago, and they only changed the story to something closer to the truth when really pressed. Um... shouldn't you let all of these people _know_ that they're worshipping a false goddess/summon spirit? I would think that, since you were the ones responsible for unseating the Church of Martel proper, it would be your responsibility to explain stuff to people. I mean, I guess that could potentially cause mass hysteria or something, but since the people of Sylvarant don't seem to be worshipping Martel _anyway_, that's only half of the world to potentially confuse and screw over and... gah, I dunno.





> Damn you Namco...if you had to have him appear at all, have him say that he's dumped the freakin exspheres and is heading back to earth.





Spoiler



I doubt that he *can* come back, though, or that he intended to. And I wasn't expecting him to. Just an _explanation,_ dammit, that's all I wanted! Retcon something in, you retards!

Honestly I'm pretty sure that wasn't actually Kratos in the beginning anyway... I think they just find Cam Clarke's voice useful and sexy. :/





> Also, has anyone seen the skit about the "Symphonian 8"...The reader, Symphonian Red, has one of the "Dark Five" as his father....anyone else drawing parallels? *Raises eyebrows*


Oh, yeah, that! I kind of wish they'd gone into more detail on that, if only because it sounded kind of like a bad Power Rangers knockoff and that would amuse me.



> ...Oh, and the cooking was dumb, and the sidequests were Ok. You actually get to see two members of the False Chosen Group in one...and that's all I've got to rant about.


How do you get that sidequest? As I said, I was rushing and found all of, what, zero?



Dannichu said:


> The giant wall of blacked-out text saddens me ):


 This is what people get for making me feel left out in the Objection! club. D< You and yer fancy T&T and yer AA and...



> But did you like it overall? Can you give things like plot/characters/music and things a rating out of 10 so I know what to expect?
> Muuuh I want to play iiiit~ (though it might be for the best that it's not out here now because I don't have a TV to play it on)


Um well actually most of my opinions on not-necessarily-spoiler stuff are in there, only they have a lot of spoilerthings sprinkled in. That's why I said I might try to sort it out later, but that post took a few hours of writing on and off and I don't want to touch it again. I also didn't want to just throw huge gobs of opinion and criticism out there in the open in the event that anyone else would be bothered by it before playing it themselves the way I would. But um I suppose I can go over those bits again, separate them out from the story spoilers as best I can and then spoilertag them anyway.

...not now, though. Other things to attend to now. But I will say this: I liked it a lot. The original was probably better, but I think ToS2 is very good in most respects and you should play it if you get a chance.

I will also say that you are probably going to have a field day with Decus. Who he is and why, eh, not telling, but yes. Decus is _special._



> And yay! on Raine/Regal not being canon. *Ew.*


Genis thought so too, actually. He didn't seem too thrilled when he muttered "But what if Regal becomes my _brother-in-law_?"


----------



## Lupine Volt

Danni: I liked the game overall. It was pretty good. 

Kratos: A padfoot is one of the evolutions of the wolf. If you keep it unevolved for a while, it eventually will have the option to try more forms. Hellhounds, Black wolves, padfoots...that's all I know so far, so I'm gonna be training them up in my new playthrough. 

As for that particular sidequest, I think they are random. During the game, I would just go up to the random Katz during the middle of a chapter and would pick off them all one by one. Oh, and they now have names! The one with the big blue hat is Melissa, and I think that the pudgy brunette is named Christopher...but I'm not sure about that...


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Oh, so it was just a quest-quest with cameo characters. All right.


----------



## Anything

Can somebody tell me what blinkies aren't used yet?


----------



## Keltena

Anything said:


> Can somebody tell me what blinkies aren't used yet?


*would also kind of like to know* Is Mithos free~?


----------



## Kratos Aurion

I don't think anyone's using any of the blinkies (other than Dannichu, who is using Raine). Have at them.


----------



## Keltena

Eeeeeeee Mithosmithosmithos~ =D Yayness.

(no do not ask me how I am this sugar-high when I just got up)


----------



## Anything

Yay! Genis!


----------



## Dannichu

Oh wow; I'm seeing Salamander as GF0 and Anything as Kaito/FMC.

Hehe; I love the blinkie avvies <3


----------



## Anything

If you zoom in on the blinkies, they look really bad when they blink.


----------



## Keltena

...they do? That's kind of random. xD Why were you zooming in on them?

Ooh, we have Raine, Genis, Sheena and Mithos now~ =D Two summoners and three half-elves! Yaaaay.

I'm on my fourth playthrough now (I know, I'm a total freak Dx), and I've pretty much lost my enthusiasm. Must... get through Asgard Ranch... so I can be best friend with Presea... Arrrrgh I want a Wii and ToS2 but _not going to happen._


----------



## Dannichu

According to my game record, I've played through 9 times now. I'm still doing my pathetic thing of trying to make everyone use all their techs 999 times and it's going pretty well, although I know what Salamander means about the losing enthusiasm for the puzzles. 

I also want to complete the Figuring Book/Monster Manual/Collectors Book, though in order to do the latter, I'm gonna need to make Colette like me enough to have a Flanoir scene with me, so she'll give me her item (Snow Bunny or something?), and currently she's the character who likes me least X)


----------



## Keltena

...you got Colette to hate you. =| I envy you so, so much. (Well, she's never been in my top three, but the only ones who ever hate me are Regal and Genis. D:)

SO GUYS GUESS WHAT. I found the best fanfiction EVER. Just be careful not to kill yourself laughing.


----------



## Dannichu

Oh, I enjoyed that. Needed more Raine, but Elphie!Kratos was amusing enough for me X)

Colette still loves me - according to the Triet Fortune Teller she's my soulmate - but she likes me least of everyone. I blame this on the fact that during every playthrough I fly around finding everyone's on-field skits and deliberately mess up only Colette's.


----------



## Lady Grimdour

Guys, random question;

Is there a Tales game for the DS? Preferably Symphonia?


----------



## Dannichu

No, I don't think there is ): 

Tales of Phantasia's on the GBA, but I don't like it very much... it's too hard >(
Symphonia would be absolutely excellent on the DS, but given that they don't push the Tales games too much outside of Japan (and certainly not in Europe), it doesn't look very likely.


----------



## Keltena

The only ones I can find on Wikipedia are the apparently Japan-only _Tales of Innocence_ and _Tales of Hearts_. =/

The skits make people _dislike_ you? :D I did _not_ know that.


----------



## Dannichu

No, they don't (sadly), but if you give the correct answers to everyone but Colettle, everyone else's happiness with you will go up except hers. 

I don't think you can really do much to actually lower Colette's happiness except be mean to Sheena and Presea during the story.


----------



## Lady Grimdour

I'm guessing the Blinkies are back?


----------



## Dannichu

They are!

I'M COOL AGAIN GUYS!!!

(pff, we all know I never stopped being cool)


----------



## Keltena

Now we just need to get the rest of the party together~ *pokes Kratos* How much can I bribe you to pick up the Zelos avatar again?


----------



## Kratos Aurion

But that's my NaNo avatar and I'm still sitting around like a stunned bunny because I actually _finished_. D:


----------



## Lupine Volt

Hehe...happy fun times. 

*Replaying through Dawn of the New World again* Attack, my canine minions! Strike down thy foes with thy mighty X2 experience! Onwards! *Evil cackle*

 Must...find...out...what...an...orion...is...and...evolve...my padfoot...into...one.


----------



## Keltena

Lookie look look I drew Remiel~


----------



## Dannichu

Oh, he's so cool (better comment actually on DA). I haven't done any ToS fanart in aaaaages (unless you cound drawing Kratos of the OS). I should remedy that.


----------



## Lady Grimdour

Awesomesauce right there, Salamander. The creepy eyes are quite pretty.

Speaking of which, I'm tempted to draw Sheena or Zelos. Or both.


----------



## Keltena

Do iiiit. =D I vote both. Or Zelos. Because Zelos is awesome.


----------



## voltianqueen

Well, I just had to get a blinkie for myself... :3

And omfg Remiel. In the words of my sister: POSSESSED. POSSESSED.
Good job on his clothes pattern-thing... I suck at those. :P

And I'm a little late, but I finally beat ToS2 last night. I liked it a lot, it was good! But I still think the first one is better~ I actually had to reset because I screwed up and got the bad ending, so...yeah. o.O


----------



## Lady Grimdour

You're late, I haven't even played. I just like the story and character design.

Tales of Destiny 2 for the PSP: any good? I'm spending all my monies on handheld games this year.

Anywho, I noticed another trend; nonsensical titles within blinkies. No one expects the Danniquisition.


----------



## Keltena

Join us, don't be afraid! =D Yeah, I was squinting at a reference for like half an hour to get the designs on that dress right.

Nonsensical titles? My title makes sense. (I think?)


----------



## Lady Grimdour

Salamander said:


> Join us, don't be afraid! =D Yeah, I was squinting at a reference for like half an hour to get the designs on that dress right.
> 
> Nonsensical titles? My title makes sense. (I think?)


Maybe it's just me then.


----------



## voltianqueen

I could've beaten in just a few days, but I was doing other things. :/

What's this about titles?


----------



## Keltena

Apparently there's a new trend: blinkies + nonsensical titles. ^_^


----------



## voltianqueen

Is my title nonsensical? :o


----------



## Keltena

...you know, I'm not really sure. o.o

Oh, guys. Have "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist", ToS-style! :D (Yeah, guess where my current title came from? Fits Mithos so well~)


----------



## voltianqueen

OHHH DUDE I love that video! We found it late at night and it was giggly~


----------



## Anything

How come everybody is using blinkies?


----------



## Keltena

Because they're _awesome._ :D


----------



## Lady Grimdour

I remember that vid.

The whole series was awesome.


----------



## Keltena

So. Um.

I made a video today, using the ToS manga. It was just a test video, to see how the program worked, but... I'd kind of like some critique on it, so my next videos can be better. Be gentle, okay? 

"Somewhere Beyond This" (Google Video killed the quality but oh well...)


----------



## voltianqueen

Here in my lap... Tales of Vesperia Special Edition. Holy cheese wheels... So beautiful. @_@
My sister's busy playing Katamari on the 360, though. :P

I'll check out the video, Sal. (your new name)


----------



## Keltena

aaaaah I want to play other Tales of Games but I can't D:

And yay, I have a new nickname~

Um, so... I'm kind of insane, so I, uh, made another video. This one is called "Call My Name", and it is here. If anyone, you know, is interested in giving me critique on it. =3


----------



## Anything

Hey, Sal's a cool name, but I recommend calling you Salamander. It just doesn't feel right to call somebody Sal.


----------



## Keltena

Hey guys? I've run into a bit of a problem. See, I want to try playing as a healer like Zelos or Raine, but there's one thing I can't figure out: how do I make them target other characters with their single-target healing spells? So far, no matter who's at low HP, they only target themselves. Does anyone else know how to make this work?


----------



## Lupine Volt

Well, while they cast their spells, all you have to do is toggle with the control stick to choose a target. Just tap left or right, and teh word "target" should appear over the pictures of the people at the bottom.


----------



## Keltena

Awesome! Thanks.


----------



## Keltena

AAAAH I'M SORRY THIS IS MY LAST DOUBLE POST I SWEAR DON'T KILL ME D: D: D:

*ahem*

That being said... who would like to hear a story? Specifically, a story that spoils the Devil's Arms quest, so if you somehow have not yet figured out the 'twist' to that sidequest, stay away?

Once upon a time, in an electronic world, there existed a party of brave and noble adventurers. Their party was one of the most strategic and yet also one of the most eclectic to be found in any world. There was a man, wise beyond his years, who possessed both the strength to move huge boulders and the gentleness to care for a child. (Oh, and also crappy healing spells.) There was a kind, white-haired woman who was a whirlwind of violence to her enemies and... well, quite frankly, rather violent to her friends as well. There was a tall, chivalrous man with hair of flaming red, armed with magic and, um, a baseball bat. Lastly, there was a small, silent girl, holding a hammer with the power to destroy armies. Very small armies.

These good and just adventurers were ruled over (and, in the small girl's case, mind-controlled) by a kind, gentle maiden in cargo pants with a blue streak in her hair. From her safe seat on a well-loved couch, she commanded the party's every move. And with each city, town, and village the group visited, peace spread throughout the world. Except for the ones that got destroyed because of the party. But then, nobody's perfect, right?

It was a fine day when the party set out on their most dangerous quest of all: to find nine artifacts cursed with darkness, and seal them away to where they could do no more harm. They traveled the world and beyond to collect them, fighting giant, creepy worms, bargaining with shady and stingy collectors, and even traveling to the city of the angels to collect the final piece. At last, they had them all, and with light hearts and smiling faces (except for the creepy little girl) they traveled to their next destination: the Temple of Darkness.

They traveled through the temple for days and nights, walking down stairs that seemed endless into the center of the earth, where their ally in the quest awaited them to seal the Devil's Arms (for that is what they were called) away forevermore. Finally, they reached their destination: the bottom floor of the temple. They offered the Devil's Arms to their ally, and that was when they realized.

One of the Arms was currently equipped to their healer.

The group tried long and hard to take the weapon from her, but the elven woman simply refused to be for one moment without a staff, despite the fact that she was the weakest freaking member in the party and, in fact, did not actually ever use the staff to whack people with. Finally, with heavy hearts, they traveled all the way back up all those stairs and to the nearest town, where they could buy her a new weapon to trade for the artifact.

That was when they realized that the town's weapon shop did not sells staves. It sold children's toys to hit people with, but it did not sell staves.

Foiled once more, the group traveled to the next town... with the same result. They traveled all the world searching for a staff for their lady companion, yet to no avail. Finally, they reached the hidden village in the center of the world, the last place they had yet to look.

Although they had doubts (for the village was not hospitable to their companion's kind, and they worried they would not stock weapons for her either), their fears were assuaged when they finally found the elusive staff at the weapon shop. They quickly grabbed it, and, after a brief and embarrassing mishap where they realized they had forgotten to bring money and were forced to sell off their valuables, they returned to their companion with the staff. At last, they were ready to go.

With just slightly heavier hearts and droopier faces than on their first visit to the temple, they traveled once more down the stairs and stairs and stairs that led to the seal room. They presented the last of the Devil's Arms to their ally, who promptly turned out to be a lying, plotting, power-hungry douchebag, revived an evil spirit, sprouted ludicrous red hair, and attacked them with the weapons they had just handed over. The party had no choice but to fight.

The fight was arduous, but thankfully not very long, because just then the adventurers realized they had forgotten to bring healing items. Making their apologies to the forces of darkness, they traveled once more up the stairs and out of the temple, bought some items, and then came back to begin the fight anew.

It was a long and arduous fight, because quite frankly, the man was a total Mary-Sue who knew how to use every weapon he had (except the weird kids' toy, he never quite figured that one out) and how to use every skill and cast every spell the party had ever run across. The party used two mystical items called "All-Divides", and still, several times, people (the adventurers, not the douchebag) died, but that was okay because the white-haired woman knew how to bring them back to life. But then the white-haired woman died, and that was okay too because they had items that could bring her back to life. Then, in a moment of pure stupidity, the little girl accidentally used a third "All-Divide".

But unfortunately, the cycle repeated itself, and the adventurers, alas, found themselves without their strongest healer and without an item with which to revive her. This was sad. Still, the three remaining fought on, using what little healing they had to keep themselves alive, determined not to allow the world to be engulfed by darkness.

And yet, they slowly became worn down, and soon, the strong, blue-haired man fell as well. Still the remaining two fought on, swinging their absurd weapons with all their strength in an attempt to defeat their mighty foe. Slowly, their strength wore down, and soon they would have given up, but...

Suddenly, the douchebag's TP ran out.

And not quite as suddenly, the douchebag realized that he could quite literally do _nothing_ to harm them without TP.

Then the red-haired knight and the strong, silent girl proceeded to whack the douchebag to death, and the world was saved.

Victorious, the two traveled back to the town that did not sell staves, and let their dead companions rest at a nice inn, where they came back to life.

Then they decided, instead of sealing the evil weapons away, to use them for their own benefit.

**THE END**​
Whoever actually read that whole rant, thank you~


----------



## Dannichu

Haha, I love it. It's like fanfiction, only (arguably) better.

I hear you on the "holding the item but not being able to take it because you don't have anything to swap it for" thing. Argh, the number of times I've wanted to customise something someone else is already holding...


----------



## Lupine Volt

*Scrolls*

...It's even more hillarious if you gave Presea the toy hammer. The same situattion happened to me, so Presea beat the man to death with a giant squeaky hammer. Colette helped, with several more squeaky hammers. 

Although, very, very good. I've had a long day, so it helps to have something to read. Thanks!


----------



## Keltena

I did give her the toy hammer, actually. x3 And then I was just like "wait a minute you mean you _can't do damage without TP_? :D Eat toy hammer!" Heh, I would totally have had Colette go all "HAMMER RAIN!", but she can't heal and has low defense, so she'd probably get Meteor Storm'd to death.

I'm so glad there's no other use for those All-Divides, though, because I completely wasted one. xD

aaaaah why isn't Presea's Arm strong after three playthroughs? D:


----------



## Dannichu

Given how much random training you do when you don't have the Rheairds, it's really hard to get the Tethe'alla people's weapons up to a good level compared to the Sylverant people.


----------



## Lupine Volt

Well, yah...

On another note, anyone else feel like pointing out horrible story/gameplay segregation? For example...Ymir forest. That stupid animal puzzle...when you have a character that can fly. Where was Colette during this process? Or did Lloyd and Genis just stop mid battle and decide to knock the only fruit on the tree into the water?


----------



## Keltena

It's even worse, when you think about it. You have the _summon spirit of water_ on your side. Why the hell can't she fetch the fruit from the water for you? Dx

In fact, there are a million times when Colette should just fly and get/do things. Meltokio Sewers much?

Let's not even get into the question of "why didn't they just use a Life Bottle or cast Resurrection on 



Spoiler: Latheon Gorge



Martel


..."

Z-Skit Theater is great with these.


----------



## Lupine Volt

Or on any other characters, for that matter. Honestly, think about that thing with Dorr. 

Spoilers for Palmacosta

 Raine: Can my healing artes not even save this one life?
Colette: Hey, look! A life bottle! *Pops it open and pours it on Dorr, who sits up, gasping*
Kratos: *Twitch*


----------



## Keltena

Oh god, yeah. xD What makes it really unforgivable, though, is that they _use Resurrection in the story_, which means it's not really completely separate gameplay stuff.

Haha, I've been playing ToS with my friend, and I think she thinks I'm secretly a Kratos/Lloyd 'shipper because I won't stop going "awwww!" every time they talk together. xD It's quite amusing.

Alsoalsoalso I learned that the same person voice-acted Magnius, Kvar and Yuan. That guy is some kind of genius.


----------



## Vriska Serket

*Joins*

I've only played Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World so far, and I'm currently stuck at the part where you have to fight both Decus and Alice at once. Advice much? D:

Also, I remember seeing somewhere in this thread that the game has multiple endings, could somebody tell me what determines them (not what the endings actually are!) without spoiling anything for me? I'm a bit worried that those times I've lost to Richter might've caught up to me. D:


----------



## Lupine Volt

Don't worry. THe Richter battles were unbeatable. Except maybe that last one, but it won't count against you. 

The ending depends on the choices you made some points in the game. Whether, way at the beginning, you chose to stop Richter or Marta, whether you picked the real Lloyd or not, and generally making good choices. And the good ending is really satisfying. Trust me on this...just...this'll sound wierd, but there will be a boss battle soon where you will face two opponents by yourself. Do-not-win-this-fight. I can't make this any clearer. After that, one more boss battle, and you'll be set.


----------



## Vriska Serket

Really? I came extremely close to beating all of them (except the first one of course, who I did beat), and with a few restarts I'm almost certain I could've beaten him...

Anyways, any tips on getting past Decus and Alice?


----------



## Lupine Volt

Oh...well, I didn't really try on Richter fights. 

For Decus and Alice, I'd reccomend going after her first. It'll stop her spells, and it's much to satisfying to beat her to a bloody pulp. Stock up on healing items, and try air comboing her, because there isn't really much a mage can do in the air. Also, free run is your best friend.


----------



## Vriska Serket

My _entire strategy_ is based on air combos, (that's part of the reason bosses like this are tough for me, they hardly ever will be lifted into the air along with you) I've already been going after her first the last few times I've tried this battle, I've got like 17 life bottles and lemon gels, and I have been using free run, yet I still lose. D:


----------



## Lupine Volt

Okay...well, try to get the best unision attacks. Manipulate the elemental grid for your monsters benefit, and keep one sphere on light for Marta, before you launch yourself in.


----------



## Vriska Serket

Don't Mystic Artes usually do more damage that two unison attacks, though? They do for me. And I wasn't aware that the elemental grid affected your monsters (I haven't used any walkthroughs or anything for this game); what exactly does it affect? (Also, I haven't really been paying attention to the grid in general throughout the game, so does it stay the same between different battles while you're in the same area? That's the only way I could possibly think of manipulating the grid before going into battle...)


----------



## Lupine Volt

Well, the elemental grid...the five mini spheres can affect your unison attack. If one of those squares is the same as the affinity of one of your monsters, that monster will join in your unison attack*But only one will, unless they have the same affinity. Then they'll do something more powerful* The returning characters will do this as well. So it helps to always have one of them set to elemental light for Marta to join in, or, if you play as Marta, one elemental darkness for Emil.


----------



## Vriska Serket

Oh, I assumed they just joined in randomly. However, I've had monsters of varying affinities join in the same unison attacks, like my Basilisk and Fenrir. And I use Mystic Artes nowadays, anyway.


----------



## Lupine Volt

Oh, well, other monsters may jump in to give it a bit of a power boost. Unison attacks are easier to pull off than Mystic Artes, though, and you can fire them off two at a time. Properly executed after a nice combo, you can rack up a lot of hits, and do more damage. Plus, they cancel out an enemy using magic, so you can just keep Alice from casting, and your golden!


----------



## Vriska Serket

A single Mystic Arte does more damage than two unison attacks in my experience, though, and it stops Alice from casting as well, admittedly half as much as two unison attacks, but you're suggesting pulling off two unison attacks one after the other anyways, and as long as I direct all my attacks at Alice, that shouldn't be a problem, should it?


----------



## voltianqueen

I still haven't even figured out how to do unison attacks... I'm so ashamed. :x

I got the crap ending the first time, so I had to reset and do that last part over... Man, my sister was bawling! If I hadn't tried again right then and there I would've been dead.

Also, I thought Decus and Alice were harder than the last battle... It took me like six tries (maybe more!) to beat them cos Alice kept healing herself... And I dunno. They beat me up real good. So I levelled up a little bit more and I destroyed them! >:D


----------



## Anything

So, does anybody here know how to get past the first dungeon in Tales of Innocence?


----------



## Vriska Serket

Phew, I finally beat them. I had to go on a truckload of quest to gain enough experience, as well as finding the ingredients for the "Demonic Torment" sword. I think that the main thing that decided my victory, however, was that I found out that those tomes that teach Artes and skills were actually for monsters! Joy.

Edit: I just beat the game, and I _think_ I got the good ending, though it was quite sad...that final battle it supposed to be unbeatable, right? I mean, I stopped Richter, chose to attack the fake Lloyd, lost in the second-to-last battle like Animorph said (doubt I could have won if I wanted, anyway), but lost in the battle after it. It seemed unbeatable, but since it was the last battle and all I suppose it could've made sense for it to be that tough...But I remember seeing something about choosing people to travel with you or something after the game is over somewhere. Is it possible to play post-endgame somehow, or was that a lie?

Anyways, uh, could somebody recommend me some good Tales games on the Wii, DS, Gamecube, or GBA to me, and tell me why? (Other than the original Tales of Symphonia, which I will definitely be getting!)


----------



## Keltena

Uhm Cinderpelt, I didn't read that post fully because I think it contained spoilers. If it did, could you, um, please spoiler-tag them? ^^; I kind of don't want to have ToS2 spoiled for me before I play it.

Um. Anyway. ATTENTION ToS FANS. You _have to_ read this fanfiction. Period. Seriously.


----------



## turbler

I can't beat the light temple  I got past the fight w/ Alice (i dunno who Decus is...) then opened that door but I dunno where to go from there
oh, and, can I sign up!


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Cinderpelt said:


> A single Mystic Arte does more damage than two unison attacks in my experience, though, and it stops Alice from casting as well, admittedly half as much as two unison attacks, but you're suggesting pulling off two unison attacks one after the other anyways, and as long as I direct all my attacks at Alice, that shouldn't be a problem, should it?


It would probably depend on the unison attack and the characters and monsters involved, just as it would depend on the individual arte. I only know approximately how hard Emil's hits because I never really play as Marta and the computer never uses them (no matter how much it might've helped all those times in the third to last battle when Regal was the only freaking person alive... seriously, dude, you were _never actually even dying *once* throughout that battle_, you could've done me a favor and nailed the jerk!). Besides, since both stop casting anyway, wouldn't you rather stop her twice and do slightly less damage than stop her once? The mystic artes are probably better used on Decus, who has that annoying Sturm und Drang arte and more HP/better defenses and so needs to be killed off real damn quick once Alice is gone.



voltianqueen said:


> I still haven't even figured out how to do unison attacks... I'm so ashamed. :x
> 
> I got the crap ending the first time, so I had to reset and do that last part over... Man, my sister was bawling! If I hadn't tried again right then and there I would've been dead.
> 
> Also, I thought Decus and Alice were harder than the last battle... It took me like six tries (maybe more!) to beat them cos Alice kept healing herself... And I dunno. They beat me up real good. So I levelled up a little bit more and I destroyed them! >:D


When your red unison gauge is at least half full, press the C button to use the attack on your targeted enemy. The more full the bar is, the more damage you will generally do; using it with a full gauge only uses up half of it, so you can generally pull off two in a row before you need a full recharge. As Animorph said, if at least one circle in the elemental grid is aligned with one of your party members (be it Marta, a return character or a monster), that party member will join the attack and possibly change its element to their own rather than the initiator's--so if you start an attack with Emil it'll be the dark Devil's Maw, but if Genis and an ice monster help you it'll become Avalanche or whatever it's called. The more party members help you, the higher the attack's "movement" (the way it says "The First Movement", "The Second Movement", etc.). There's a bit more to it than that, but yeah. At first, all you need to remember is that you just press C.

...at least, I _hope_ I remember it being C. :/

I don't remember whether it took me more tries to beat Alice and Decus or the third to last boss, but I do remember the third to last boss _seeming_ harder. I do know that I never had to go back and train some more for anything; I always felt that I was pretty much at the right level for everything. What levels are you guys when you're attempting these things (other than the returning characters, of course, who'll be at level 50 anyway)? Maybe all the times I lost were just crappy luck, then. Crappy luck and lack of Regal.



Cinderpelt said:


> Phew, I finally beat them. I had to go on a truckload of quest to gain enough experience, as well as finding the ingredients for the "Demonic Torment" sword. I think that the main thing that decided my victory, however, was that I found out that those tomes that teach Artes and skills were actually for monsters! Joy.
> 
> Edit: I just beat the game, and I _think_ I got the good ending, though it was quite sad...that final battle it supposed to be unbeatable, right? I mean, I stopped Richter, chose to attack the fake Lloyd, lost in the second-to-last battle like Animorph said (doubt I could have won if I wanted, anyway), but lost in the battle after it. It seemed unbeatable, but since it was the last battle and all I suppose it could've made sense for it to be that tough...But I remember seeing something about choosing people to travel with you or something after the game is over somewhere. Is it possible to play post-endgame somehow, or was that a lie?
> 
> Anyways, uh, could somebody recommend me some good Tales games on the Wii, DS, Gamecube, or GBA to me, and tell me why? (Other than the original Tales of Symphonia, which I will definitely be getting!)


No, you aren't "supposed" to lose; I beat the last boss, and it wasn't that hard, actually. :/ I just had to keep using Lemon Gels. I actually got rid of the boss before I could even get off a mystic arte (which was mildly annoying because I totally wanted to nail them with it). Maybe you were still slightly underleveled?

I haven't gone back and tried anything yet, but so far I don't _think_ there's a postgame. I heard the same thing, though, so don't take my word for it.

The only current Nintendo releases are ToS, ToS2 and the Tales of Phantasia remake for GBA, although I have been told repeatedly that it isn't very good and you're better off looking for a fan-translated ROM of the SNES version.



Salamander said:


> Uhm Cinderpelt, I didn't read that post fully because I think it contained spoilers. If it did, could you, um, please spoiler-tag them? ^^; I kind of don't want to have ToS2 spoiled for me before I play it.
> 
> Um. Anyway. ATTENTION ToS FANS. You _have to_ read this fanfiction. Period. Seriously.


No, actually, there's only one there that could potentially be a spoiler, and I suppose it isn't that bad out of context. Still, Cinderpelt, just to be safe, you might want to spoilertag the fake Lloyd part.

I'm not reading that if there's shipping/romance in it. Is there?



turbler said:


> I can't beat the light temple  I got past the fight w/ Alice (i dunno who Decus is...) then opened that door but I dunno where to go from there
> oh, and, can I sign up!


I would offer you some help but, as usual, I have completely forgotten, like, most of the strategic/puzzle solving details, except for a few at the end of the game, already. Curse this CRS, curse it to hell. D<


----------



## Keltena

There is not, in fact, 'shipping or romance, thankfully. (Well, Lloyd and Colette are engaged, but the romance aspect of that is given no attention whatsoever.) Just... a ton of angst, basically. =D


----------



## Flora

Er...can I join?  We got Tales of Vesperia and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of a New World for Christmas and my dad's playing the former right now. ^^

Of course, I'm just in my "oh my God even the battle scenes are cute!" phase, but still.


----------



## Anything

I didn't know, but since when were Lloyd and Colette engaged? I pay attention to almost every detail in Symphonia and Dawn of the New World and I don't even know this.


----------



## Keltena

Um... I said they were engaged in the fanfiction I linked to. I might have to shoot someone if they were engaged in the actual games. x3


----------



## Anything

First, my computer was being stupid and not letting me read the fanfiction, but now it lets me. Yay!

And, second, why would you want to shoot someone if lloyd and colette were really engaged? It's not that bad.


----------



## Keltena

Because I hate having annoying canon pairings shoved in my face like that? :D


----------



## Anything

I know, but shouldn't you be use to the fact that lloyd and colette love each other by now?


----------



## Keltena

Well, honestly, they do not necessarily love each other. o.o They are clearly very, very close to each other, but there is nothing outright romantic between them; in fact, I'd say they're both too oblivious to notice such a thing anyway. xD To be honest, I personally think even Sheena/Lloyd has more basis in canon, as it's very obvious that Sheena has romantic feelings for Lloyd as opposed to just the general close friendship blurring slightly into love between Lloyd and Colette.

Um, that's just my opinion though. And I'm a Lloyd/Zelos 'shipper anyway so I can't really talk about what's canon and what isn't. I just wanted to say that, even though I realize Lloyd/Colette is technically "the canon 'ship", they are not actually _together_ in canon. That's all. ^_^

So um. On a different subject... is anyone interested in joining a Tales of Symphonia roleplay on Gaia? We're... kind of desperately in need of party members (Zelos is all alooone... D:), so if anyone would like to come roleplay with us... :D? It's fun, I promise~ Roleplay is here in case you're interested.


----------



## Lupine Volt

Eh, I'm a Colloyd shipper. I've nothing against any other ships*Minus those about Regal, with the exception of Alicia* but I just like it. It's so warm and fluffy, and, well...maybe it's a matter of perception. However, I don't dislike any other ships involving Lloyd...except, of course, Regal...and maybe Presea. 

On another note, if you could replace any character in the party with any other character in any other fandom, who would it be?


----------



## Keltena

Butbutbut... I like all the party characters. D: Well, except for Colette who I hate and Kratos who I have this weird like-hate relationship with, but it just wouldn't be the same without all of them.


----------



## Dannichu

I have ships I like and ships I don't, but I don't mind at all when people support/dislike other ships; but like Salamander, it bugs me a little when ships are forced down your throat by the game itself.

The best games hint at a little of everthing and leave it up to whoever wants to read into stuff :D

(though I'll admit here that Regal/Presea disturbs me because she's (for all intents and purposes) twelve)


----------



## Flora

yeah sorry for the semi-bump but just when I wanted to post here it was dying. ^^;

Tales of Vesperia. We started playing it and so far it is amazing.


----------



## Anything

I've never played it before, but I heard it's really good.  I hope you have fun playing it!


----------



## Flora

It is good!

I got the opening song, "Ring a Bell," on my iPod. ^^


----------



## Lupine Volt

Oh yah...I like that song. It's nice. As is the rest of the game. A tiny bit lax on backstory for most of the people, but nice.


----------



## Flora

Yes, indeed.



Spoiler: ToV



Good God Zagi pops up everywhere. (he's such a psycho it's hilarious.)


----------



## Lupine Volt

Ah, Zagi...you gotta love the axe crazy psycho. How far in the game are you exactly?


----------



## Flora

Just got to Torim Harbor, I believe.


----------



## Lupine Volt

Ahh...Harbor towns. Every game has a harbor town. Palmacosta, Vermillion, Nor, Torim...


----------



## Flora

^^

We also have ToS: Dawn of a New World, but we haven't started it yet.


----------



## voltianqueen

Ooh, I love Vesperia. ^^
I'm at the final dungeon, but I've been lazy and haven't played in a while XD

Anyone else notice Flynn looks a lot like Guy from Tales of the Abyss...?


----------



## Lupine Volt

Yah...Karol reminds me of Lloyd. With the hair and the intelligence. 

Also, I have done it. I've found someone who ships Regal and Sheena. And provided valid reasons for the shipping. So I have found almost every main party straight pairings. I just need Genis and Sheena, and my collection is complete. *I don't count Genis and Raine, of course...ick.*


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Conversation like this is why I don't post here more. >>;

But yes, Flora, ToS2 is good and you should get around to playing it.


----------



## Flora

Can't; my dad would kill me.  He's in charge of the RPGs around here.

Also we beat up the thing in the destroyed city and I discovered that Rita is absolutely amazing.  (Better gameplay-wise than Karol, who I'm usually stuck playing)


----------



## voltianqueen

Repede is my best character :D
I suck so bad with Karol. He's too slow for me :/

I went ebay-wild buying ToA figurines the other day~ XD If I feel like it I might grab a Zelos while I'm at it...


----------



## Keltena

Now for a short interlude involving my brother's crazy ToS theories. This one came about after he saw me playing farther in the game than he was and saw Mithos. ("Wait, that's a _guy?_ I thought that was _Colette!_") Apparently this was enough to spawn a new theory...

His logic: Yggdrasill can't _possibly_ be the real big bad; there has to be a man behind the man behind the man, right? Therefore, he believes that the _real_ big bad has to be someone he hasn't met yet; and he thinks it's Mithos. Furthermore, he believes that Mithos is actually 4000 years old and actually the ancient hero; and, by extension, that Kratos and Yuan are also at least 4000 years old.

...yes. Make of that what you will. I thought it was rather worth sharing.


----------



## Vriska Serket

I'm well into a second playthrough of Dawn of the New World and am at the part just before you go to see Verius. I'm mostly just fiddling around with the sidequests I didn't know existed on my first playthrough, (and only know about at this point due to online walkthroughs that I didn't want to use on my first playthrough) and am about to enter the Twilight Palace. I think I'll put off Gladsheim until my third playthrough, by which time I'll hopefully have bought EXPx10. This also gives me a chance to see the normal ending! (Still don't know who Kratos is but apparently I get a chance to see him soon?)


----------



## Ether's Bane

Join'd.


----------



## voltianqueen

Aahh, I finally got around to beating Vesperia last night. Love love love love~ :D

Your brother is good at theory-making. >>


----------



## Erif

'Ello 'ello.

Mind if I join?


----------



## voltianqueen

Heheh, please do ^^
What have you played?


----------



## Flora

We've gotten so far in Vesperia that I'm just really confused.

We met 



Spoiler: late game stuff



Judith (also known as "that dragon freak), who is amazing.


----------



## voltianqueen

Judy!! :D
She makes me smile. But Repede is still the best. I think I'm gonna have another go with Vesperia. :)


----------



## Erif

voltianqueen said:


> Heheh, please do ^^
> What have you played?


Phantasia (my favorite), Symphonia, starting Abyss (I bought the disk, but it won't work), and plan for Vesperia.


----------



## voltianqueen

I have Phantasia for GBA, but I haven't played in a while. I want to get Suzu, but I can't beat that stupid golem-thing in the coliseum. >:(

Abyss is my favorite <3


----------



## Flora

Erif said:


> plan for Vesperia.


Getitgetitgetit.

Also, I found an icon for Rita, which is now my avvie. ^^


----------



## Erif

If only it was that easy. D= My brother owns the 360, so I have to ask for his permission. Sucks.

Also, lol. If it's just a standard-type golem, smash it with skills that keep a small distance and let you regain control fast (ie: Aeigis Strike, Demon Fang, Distortion Blade, Hell Pyre).


----------



## voltianqueen

I want to play Vesperia on our new TV. o.O


----------



## Flora

We re-united with everybody now; I was just waiting for Judy to say, "I'm a dragon rider," and for Rita to punch her in the face. XP


----------



## Lupine Volt

Um, you might wanna put that in spoiler tags...

I had to restart my file...It sucked. However, finished up the desert, and I'm off for Bellius!


----------



## Flora

Done.

Karol + dress = win. XP


----------



## Erif

do joo luv Arche? i luv Arche sooooo mooch!


----------



## voltianqueen

I like to fight those big big monsters :D
They're fuuuun~ (until I die)

Arche is :D


----------



## Erif

Seriously, Arche is the coolest character ever, followed by PResea. In fact, Phantasia puts the most character development into the characters, even though it's the oldest.


----------



## voltianqueen

I gotta stick with Legretta <3

Is that right, or is it just cos it's your favorite? ^^


----------



## Erif

Nah, definitely fact. =D. So many side-quest/extras make it awesome.

Is Destiny any good. I'm thinking about getting it.


----------



## voltianqueen

Well, I guess I can't say anything till I beat Phantasia ^^

Tales of Destiny is with...Stahn? I think. Either way, I wanna play, too :(


----------



## Keltena

My brother and I are making some ToS Magic cards~ When we finish with the set, I'll post 'em here.


----------



## voltianqueen

Magic cards? :o
Like Magic the Gathering?

(Erif, I just now noticed that your username is Fire backwards XD)


----------



## Keltena

Yep~
Here's an example. ^^ We've got a few done so far; we have a _lot_ planned.


----------



## voltianqueen

"Um...um...die!"

Haha, that's cool~ ^__^


----------



## Erif

voltianqueen said:


> (Erif, I just now noticed that your username is Fire backwards XD)


orly?

I takes people awhile. And, as you mentioned Dhaos, Dhaos is an uber badass, amirite. 

Sarsly, Dhaos for best Tales villain.


----------



## voltianqueen

I'm usually the one that loves to say stuff backwards, but I can never get it when someone else does it -_-

I mentioned Dhaos? Haven't had much experience with the guy :(


----------



## Erif

You just did. =D

Awesumlyawesumnessfilledwithbowlsofawesumstuffwithanextracupofawesomeontheside=Dhaos.


----------



## voltianqueen

Ahhh, so it was a trick? And I fell right into it... x3

For some reason, I think we're biased towards our favorite games XD


----------



## Keltena

Anyone up for wasting some time? :3 A guild I'm in on Gaia did this "create your own Tales character" thing, and it's pretty fun; you get to think up tech lists and end-of-battle quotes and everything. Here's mine: (make fun of the tech names and die horribly)
*
*


> *Name:* Katya Ward
> *Age:* 15; passes herself off as 18
> *Race:* Human
> *Appearance:* Katya is 5'6 1/2" tall and a little on the stocky side; she has light skin that sunburns easily, straight dark brown hair cropped to mid-ear-length, and brown eyes. She wears a loose brown undershirt with elastic around the wrists and hem and skintight black pants that cut off around her ankles. She wears light leather armor over her clothes in battle. She wears a red exsphere on her neck with the key crest in the form of a choker.
> *Weapon:* A solid wooden baton the length of her forearm. (She later upgrades to batons made of stronger materials; e.g., light metal or polycarbonate.)
> 
> *Personality:* Katya is very to-the-point and occasionally blunt, particularly around people she doesn't know well. She rather enjoys sarcasm and gives off the impression of being a very cynical person. Despite her slight cynicism, however, she has firm beliefs about right and wrong, and does her best to do the right thing and not stand for injustice. She spends much of her time thinking and generally wants to contribute ideas.
> *Background:* A priestess in training who had her doubts about religion, Katya abandoned her home in Luin when she heard the Chosen's Journey of Regeneration was starting, in what she knew was a near-futile attempt to stop the tradition of sacrificing the Chosen. After managing to tag along, she became soon convinced that it was hopeless; however, due to Luin's destruction and her parents' deaths, she remained with the party until the end.
> 
> *When does she join?:* Unable to convince Kratos and Raine to take her along, Katya begs Lloyd and Genis to let her join them, explaining vaguely that she has something she has to warn the Chosen about. Worried about Colette, the two boys let her come along.
> 
> *Stats:*
> Below average HP
> Above average TP
> Average strength
> Average defense
> Above average accuracy
> Above average evasion
> Low magical defense
> Above average movement speed
> 
> *Tech Tree:*
> Lv. 1 Special Attacks
> Lv. --
> _Skull Bash_ TP 4
> -Strike from overhead using both hands
> Lv. 5
> _Crescent Strike_ TP 5
> -Attack in an arc that pushes back an enemy
> Lv. 8
> _Reckless Blow_ TP 7
> -Strike with a higher chance of stunning an enemy
> Lv. 12
> _Flurry_ TP 8
> -Strike four times in quick succession
> Lv. 15
> _Flash Thrust_ TP 11
> -Move in from a distance for a quick thrust
> 
> Lv. 2 Special Attacks
> Lv. 16
> _U Sweep_ TP 13
> -Knock an enemy off balance and make them fall
> Lv. 18 (S)
> _Skull Crush_ TP 14
> -Strike from overhead using both hands
> Lv. 18 (T)
> _Double Skull Bash_ TP 14
> -Strike down and up using both hands
> Lv. 21 (S)
> _Feral Crescent Strike_ TP 16
> -Attack in a powerful arc that knocks down an enemy
> Lv. 21 (T)
> _Double Crescent_ TP 15
> -Attack twice in an arc that pushes back an enemy
> Lv. 25 (S)
> _Omega Flurry_ TP 17
> -Strike four times in quick succession, ending with a powerful blow
> Lv. 25 (T)
> _Furious Flurry_ TP 17
> -Strike six times in quick succession
> Lv. 27 (S)
> _Acute Reckless Blow_ TP 21
> -Strike with a very high chance of stunning an enemy
> Lv. 27 (T)
> _Frantic Reckless Blow_ TP 18
> -Strike twice with a higher chance of stunning an enemy
> Lv. 28 (S)
> _Wild Flash Thrust_ TP 20
> -Move in from a distance for a quick thrust that knocks an enemy back
> Lv. 28 (T)
> _Swift Flash Thrust_ TP 20
> -Move in from a distance for a quick thrust, then backstep
> 
> Lv. 3 Special Attacks
> Lv. --
> _Damage Guard_ TP 10% of total
> -Guard against magical and physical attacks
> Lv. 31 (S)
> _U Sweep Assault_ TP 19
> -Knock an enemy off-balance with a powerful strike to make them fall
> Lv. 31 (T)
> _Z Sweep_ TP 19
> -Knock an enemy off-balance with a series of strikes to make them fall
> Lv. 35
> _Crescent Skull Bash_ TP 27
> -Strike from overhead with both hands, then attack in an arc that pushes an enemy back
> Lv. 38
> _Crescent Sweep_ TP 31
> -Attack in an arc that pushes the enemy back and knocks them off-balance to make them fall
> Lv. 42
> _Reckless Crescent_ TP 34
> -Attack in an arc with a higher chance of stunning an enemy
> Lv. 45
> _Flash Flurry_ TP 35
> -Move in from a distance to strike four times in quick succession
> Lv. 48
> _Reckless Flurry_ TP 38
> -Strike four times in quick succession with a higher chance of stunning an enemy
> Lv. 51 (S)
> _Skull Breaker_ TP 30
> -Strike from overhead using both hands and temporarily paralyze an enemy
> Lv. 51 (T)
> _Skull Cracker_ TP 30
> -Strike down and up four times using both hands
> Lv. 54 (T)
> _Frenzied Flurry_ TP 37
> -Strike eight times in quick succession
> Lv. 58 (S)
> _Final Reckless Blow_ TP 40
> -Strike and stun an enemy
> 
> *Quotes:*
> Start of battle:
> "Let's get this over with."
> "You want a fight?"
> "Say your prayers!"
> Repeat battle: "Here we go again..."
> Large group: "That's... a lot..."
> Large enemy: "Talk about imposing..."
> Tough battle: "Are we sure about this?"
> Easy battle: "Talk about pathetic."
> Losing battle: "We can't lose now...!"
> Low HP: "Someone, help!"
> KO'd: "Augh... damn it..."
> New tech: "Hey, look!"
> Successful guard: "Nice try."
> Guard break: "How did you...!"
> Taunt: "Over here!"
> Victory:
> "Glad that's over with."
> "Anyone else?"
> "Having fun yet?"
> "I guess that's that."
> "Perfect."
> "I hope you believed in the afterlife."
> Victory (low HP):
> "Phew... we made it."
> "That was way too close..."
> Victory (against Remiel): "That's the last time I'll worship you."


----------



## Erif

Obsessed much?

Err, ya, coolio. (loooooser)


----------



## Keltena

Actually, no; I just have too much time on my hands. 8D


----------



## Keltena

Uh okay so I have too much spare time on my hands so I roped my brother into making these MtG cards with me~ 8D?

Lloyd
Colette
Genis
Raine
Kratos (spoilers)
Sheena
Presea
Regal
Yuan (spoilers)
Mithos (spoilers)
Martel (okay okay so it's actually Mana not Martel get off my back D:)
Tabatha (spoilers?)
Sorcerer's Ring

Aaaand, that's all for now. Yggdrasill is still in the works, as is Zelos due to the fact that he's _impossible to think of a good ability for._ Dx Soyeah~


----------



## voltianqueen

Aaahhh, they're so cool! Can't wait for Yggdrasill (aka Booty Man) and Zelos~ :D


----------



## Anything

They're pretty cool, except I can't understand them (not that I don't understand English).


----------



## Erif

Lol, I just noticed you all have Tales avatars. And Anything, don't you have the same avy as Dannichu?

Those a pretty cool. i likey Collette's.


----------



## Dannichu

^ Nah, if you look closely, s/he's got Genis and I've got Raine :3

Woooooah those are cool, Salamander~ I love the art and quotes you picked for each of them (Raine's amused me especially because she loves nothing more than to discuss change), and while I don't have a clue how to play MtG, the abilties suit the characters extremely well :)


----------



## voltianqueen

I've picked up Tales of Legendia again and I'm liking it much better than before, for some reason~ The music is great :D


----------



## Flora

The family has beaten Tales of Vesperia. ^^

Speaking of which, if you picked "Ex New Game" when it prompts you to do that or continue, can you still continue? My parents are debating on that aspect. ^^


----------



## voltianqueen

^Erm, I'm not sure... I'd try it, but I accidentally saved over my original file with a new one -_-;

That reminds me. They're coming out with Vesperia for PS3, with some added features and a new character. I'm going to scream. There's a little argument going on in the comments about whether or not it'll be released outside of Japan :P


----------



## Kratos Aurion

So Salamander. No suggestions for Zelos (uh, just go to the Gatherer site and randomize the card it shows you until you see something Zelos-ish?), but you know what I just noticed? I was thinking about the Sandworm monster for something entirely unrelated and I remembered the Sliver version you can find around Flanoir. You should make a Sliver Sliver card. :3 I don't know what abilities the ToS Sliver could add to the hive, but it's an idea if you can find a picture.


----------



## Anything

I'm an it, and for some random reason, I started playing Tales of Innocence, and It's super hard, since I can't understand much of what the characters are saying, but does anyone know where I can find a guide?


----------



## Keltena

Release this soul from the abyss of death... _Resurrection!_

Now, where were we... well I dunno, but...

TALES OF THE ABYSS. can has discussion? c:


----------



## Dannichu

I WANT TO PLAY IT.

Stupid everyone-hating-Europe and them not bringing games out over here ):


----------



## Ven

Joinage!


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Have joint custody of it and will get around to playing it one of these days, but the, er, placement of the consoles in the house makes it rather awkward. My brother seems to have enjoyed it, though.

In other news! Who here would read a silly ToS/hardboiled detective fanfic, assuming my resolve to finish it does not fall down go boom?


----------



## Stormecho

Have I joined this yet? No? Gasp. Joining. And Kratos, I'd love to read it. XD

...Aaaargh, my Gamecube memory card is missing after we remodeled the basement and I don't know where it is and my ToS was on there. D: I beat the game once and was doing it again with all my awesome techs and it's GONE. >< Wangsting aside, I also lost Twilight Princess, Pokemon Colosseum and SSBM. >> I am not pleased.


----------



## Keltena

Oh man, I would _love_ to read that. Of course, this is coming from the girl who's crossing over ToS with Ace Attorney, so... xD;


----------



## Keltena

why do I always doublepost :Y

Um... I come bearing some mildly disturbing images! :D Made using this, because it's just too addictive.

Zelos
Presea
Jade
Anise

That's all for now, but I'm probably going to make more. Join me in the brain-breakage?


----------



## Vriska Serket

I finished playing through the original ToS a couple weeks ago, and it was awesome. :D It had quite a few surprising plot twists too, even though I've already played through its sequel. Really the only huge disappointment for me was the fact that you can't move freely in all directions during battles. I'm guessing that's a feature that only really recent games in the series have?

Anyways, I'm thinking about actually getting a non-Nintendo system for once during the summer by working for my grandma, and I'm wondering which one would be able to play the best/most Tales games. Keep in mind that I know absolutely nothing about the backwards compatibility or anything between the systems. :P


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Salamander: clicked on Presea and Anise, too chicken to risk mindfuck by clicking on Zelos and Jade. :/ Those two are cute, anyway.

Frostdawn: I've only played ToS, ToS2 and half of Phantasia myself so I don't know anything about "best" non-Nintendo Tales games, but you'd probably want a Playstation of some make or another because Sony's been doing the series longer. There's Abyss (which is supposed to be amazing and I really need to play it FFF GIVE ME MY DAMN PS2 LITTLE BROTHER) and Legendia for that, plus several others for PS1 (at least Destiny and Destiny II, if not more) if you're willing to go back that far. Xbox only has Vesperia as far as I'm aware... and aren't they releasing Vesperia on PS3 now anyway? *doesn't remember and is too lazy to check*

So yeah, if you're specifically looking for Tales series then I'd go with a PS2/PS3.

Anyway. I need something manly to purge the image of Sailor Zelos, even if it is just an imagined one, from my poor, fragile brain. Hm... oh, I know! Zelos with a gun! And Genis with a newsboy cap because newsboy cap = :3 Yay _Incarnadine Harvest_ concept art.

Oh, and before I forget: ATTN: anyone who has finished ToS1. This song. Listen to it. WHO'S THAT POKÉMON?


----------



## Anything

I just finished playing ToS 2 (finally). I didn't get it till last summer. I'm just so happy they came out with a Tales game for the Wii that was a sequel to ToS, my favorite tales game. I hear they're coming out with another one for the Wii: Tales of Graces. I'm so excited!


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Almost a year to the day since the last post? Tragic. Not that I really have anything specific to add as far as new discussion topics go, but I did make another ToS Mafia (based primarily on Dawn of the New World, but screw timelines) and those of you who are still here totally know that you want to play it. It has a shiny new mechanic and the role PMs contain silly references to character titles and it should be fun! Preeze?

Actually, why does no one care about the "who's that pokémon" song link/comment in my previous post. I... I thought that was a pretty cool find... :(

Also, uh... since Namco is apparently going to be localizing Tales of Graces f after all, there's that? There won't be a PS3 in my house for a very long time, if ever, so it's nothing I'd really be able to talk about (it is for PS3, right? oh god so long since I've paid any attention to release info for non-Pokémon stuff), but if anyone else is looking forward to that...?

god damn it why am I making mafia games and bumping threads at 5:30 am


----------



## Kratos Aurion

Almost a year to the day since the last post? Tragic. Not that I really have anything specific to add as far as new discussion topics go, but I did make another ToS Mafia (based primarily on Dawn of the New World, but screw timelines) and those of you who are still here totally know that you want to play it. It has a shiny new mechanic and the role PMs contain silly references to character titles and it should be fun! Preeze?

Actually, why does no one care about the "who's that pokémon" song link/comment in my previous post. I... I thought that was a pretty cool find... :(

Also, uh... since Namco is apparently going to be localizing Tales of Graces f after all, there's that? There won't be a PS3 in my house for a very long time, if ever, so it's nothing I'd really be able to talk about (it is for PS3, right? oh god so long since I've paid any attention to release info for non-Pokémon stuff), but if anyone else is looking forward to that...?

god damn it why am I making mafia games and bumping threads at 5:30 am


----------

